There is no doubt that illegal drugs have a variety of very serious negative effects on driving ability and that drug driving is a major killer on our roads. In the UK, around 18% of people killed in road crashes have traces of illegal drugs in their blood, with cannabis being the most common. [1] Levels of drug driving are not yet well recorded in many countries but records will improve in the future as more countries adopt roadside electronic testing for drugs.

What drugs do

Different drugs affect people in different ways and the effects can last for days, sometimes without someone realising. Below are some of the side effects of drugs that are likely to affect a person’s driving ability:

Cannabis

Cannabis slows reactions; affects concentration; often gives a sedative-like effect, resulting in fatigue; affects co-ordination [2]

Cocaine

Cocaine causes over-confidence; can cause erratic behaviour; after a night out using cocaine, people may feel like they have flu, feel sleepy and lack concentration [3]

Ecstasy

Ecstacy makes the heart beat faster [4]. This could cause a surge of adrenaline and result in a driver feeling over confident and taking risks.

LSD

LSD can speed up or slow down time and movement, making the speed of other vehicles difficult to judge; can distort colour, sound and objects; users often see objects which aren’t there; LSD can cause people to feel panicky and confused - obviously a dangerous state to be in while driving [5]

Speed

Speed makes people feel wide awake and excited; people who have taken speed find it difficult to sit still; users have difficulty sleeping, so someone who has taken speed and not been able to sleep at the weekend would probably be tired and therefore dangerous on the road; speed can make people panicky [6]

Research into Drugs and Driving

Researchers at the Universite Claude Bernard in Lyon, France, found taking cannabis almost doubles the risk of being involved in a fatal car crash. The researchers studied the details of 10,748 fatal car crashes between 2001 and 2003 and concluded that even after accounting for factors such as the age of the drivers and the condition of the vehicle, cannabis caused a significant number of the fatalities. 2.5% of the crashes were directly attributed to cannabis use. Researcher Jean-Louis Martin says: “You are more likely to be involved in a crash, probably because of the drug’s effect on your reaction times and concentration. But the drug also makes you more vulnerable to the effects of the crash, so you are more likely to die.” [7] Click here to read a longer article about the study.

A study carried out by the transport research agency TRL using a driving simulator found there was a reduction of average speed on motorway driving when participants had taken cannabis. According to the TRL report of the study this strongly suggested that the participants were aware of their impairment by the drug and were attempting to compensate for their impairment by driving more cautiously. In the driving simulator test participants also reacted more slowly to another vehicle pulling out. Participants that had been given a high cannabis dose were able to drive less accurately when steering round a ‘figure of eight’. According to the report, this confirmed that cannabis adversely affects drivers’ tracking ability. [8] Click here to read the full TRL report.

According to a survey by the RAC Foundation and Max Power Magazine, one in five young drivers take to the road every day while high on illegal drugs. The survey, of 474 Max Power readers, found:

• 20% of those surveyed said they ‘drug drive’ every day
• 44% said they regularly drug drive with passengers in their car
• 59% had driven after smoking marijuana - 37% had driven after taking cocaine Max Power also tested the effects of different drugs on young drivers using a specially devised off-road course. The comments from the drivers who tested the different drugs were: The cocaine tester said: “After the first few lines I was on top of the world, I felt invincible, like no one could touch me. On the road I wouldn’t care if I was reckless.”

The marijuana tester said: “After about three joints I felt OK to drive but was much more cautious. This feeling grew into full-on paranoia that I was going to hit something.”
The speed tester said his driving was “faster and more erratic”. He also said he couldn’t stop fidgeting and “just wanted to go faster”.
The ecstasy tester said he would be “in a hedge in no time” if he drove on the road under the effects of the drug. [9]

The Law

Anyone accused of death by dangerous driving while under the influence of drugs faces a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

20-year-old killed by drug cocktail driver

Banned driver Lee Fitzgerald, 25, from Hartlepool, crashed and killed 20-year-old Katharine Davis while high on a cocktail of drink and drugs. Fitzgerald was almost double the legal drink-drive limit and had taken cocaine and ecstasy before getting behind the wheel of a friend’s Rover 216Gti. He gave a lift to Katharine and a work colleague and crashed at high-speed as the car was being followed by police. Fitzgerald was jailed for five years. [11]

Nine-year-old killed on crossing by drug driver

Andrew Wilkinson, 20, was jailed for four-and-a-half years after hitting and killing Lucy Mae Bellamy, nine, on a pelican crossing. Wilkinson had not tried to brake despite obvious signs he was approaching a pelican crossing. He later admitted to police that he had been smoking cannabis through a makeshift pipe and had drunk a pint of Stella earlier in the day. He admitted causing death by dangerous driving at Lincoln Crown Court. The court was told Wilkinson had only regained his licence three months before the fatal incident. He had previously been banned for a year in 2003 for careless driving relating to an incident in which his rear seat passenger was killed after being thrown from the car. [12]

Heroin driver kills motorbiker

Tommy Jones, 27, killed a motorcyclist when he crashed into him after taking drugs. Jones, of Hailsham, East Sussex, took the wheel of a Ford Orion after taking a hit of heroin which left him so uncoordinated it took him 10 minutes to roll a cigarette, Lewes Crown Court heard. Witnesses described how, after dropping a friend off, Jones began speeding when he spotted a police car and was “taking bends like he was on a racetrack”. While overtaking a car he smashed into an oncoming motorcycle ridden by 19-year-old Ross Partridge. Jones was jailed for five years, disqualified from driving for 10 years and ordered to take an extended driving test when reapplying for his licence. [13]

Learner drug driver kills himself and two others

Three people were killed in a crash because a learner driver was high on drink and drugs. A car, carrying six friends home from a night out, clipped a kerb, careered into a tree and landed upside down in the garden of a house and burst into flames. Provisional licence holder Darren Caswell, 20, died behind the wheel. Passenger Lisa Burniston, a mother-of-six, died the following day from 70 per cent burns. Another passenger Anthony Cameron died from brain and multiple injuries and burns several days later. Lisa’s husband, Wayne Burniston, was left crippled, while friend Graham Morris had the finger ends of one hand amputated and lost part of his right ear. Tests showed that Caswell, from Middlesborough, had more than twice the legal amount of alcohol in his blood to be driving and had taken heroin, codeine and ecstasy. [14]

Racing driver who killed grandmother was high on drug cocktail

Two speeding drivers, one male and one female, killed a grandmother in a 100mph car race. Janine Scarfe, 25, was found guilty of causing the death of Dawn Routledge by dangerous driving after she smashed her Vauxhall Corsa into the 68-year-old pensioner’s car while racing Sheldon Brooks, 25, along a road known as the ‘mad mile’. Bradford Crown Court heard that Scarfe was high on a cocktail of Ecstasy and cocaine and had been racing, showing off and driving too close to Brooks moments before the fatal incident. Brooks was also found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. Both were sentenced to six years imprisonment, with a minimum of three years to serve. They were both also disqualified from driving for five years. [15]

[1] Driving for Work: Drink & Drugs (RoSPA)
[2] A-Z of Drugs: Cannabis, Talk to Frank (www.talktofrank.com)
[3] A-Z of Drugs: Cocaine, Talk to Frank (www.talktofrank.com)
[4] A-Z of Drugs: Ecstasy, Talk to Frank (www.talktofrank.com)
[5] A-Z of Drugs: LSD, Talk to Frank (www.talktofrank.com)
[6] A-Z of Drugs: Speed, Talk to Frank (www.talktofrank.com)
[7] Cannabis Doubles the Risk of Fatal Crashes, (New Scientist, December 2 2005)
[8] The Influence of Cannabis on Driving, TRL Report 447, (TRL, 2000)
[9] High Risk for Young Drug Drivers, (RAC Foundation, 24 April 2006)
[10] Think! - Drug Driving, (www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk)
[11] Grieving Father Refuses to Blame Driver for Fatal Crash, (The Northern Echo, 11 May 2005)
[12] Jail for Girl Death Drug Driver, (BBC News Online, 7 March 2006)
[13] ‘Drug Driver’ Jailed Over Death, (BBC News, 3 June 2003)
[14] Learner Driver was High on Drugs, (The Northern Echo, 3 October 2002)
[15] Six Years Jail for 100mph Smash Drivers who Killed Grandmother, (Yorkshire Post, 15 July 2006)

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