04 January 2012
Brake, the road safety charity
T: 01484 559909 National or out of hours: 07976 069159 E: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Road safety charity Brake and Direct Line Car Insurance are calling for the government to push through proposals on tackling drug driving, as a survey reveals one in nine young drivers (11%) has driven on illegal drugs in the past year [1].

The survey by Brake and Direct Line found that 3% of young drivers (age 17-24) said they get behind the wheel after taking drugs once a month or more. Slightly more young drivers are admitting drug driving than four years ago, when one in 11 young drivers (9%) owned up to this potentially deadly behaviour [2].

Brake, together with the family of Lillian Groves, killed age 14 by a driver who had been smoking cannabis (see below), is urging the government to follow through on its promise to tackle drug driving urgently. They are calling for long-needed reform, including:

• a new law making it an offence to drive while on illegal drugs, to rectify the current loophole. Currently it is only an offence to drive while impaired by drugs, meaning police must prove impairment to prosecute.
• approval and roll-out of roadside drug screening devices, so police can test for drugs at the roadside and immediately following a crash.

(Full calls to government below.)

Ellen Booth, Brake senior campaigns officer, said: "The risks of driving on drugs are huge, and the consequences devastating – yet a huge proportion of young drivers are taking this appalling gamble with their own and others' lives. We need all drivers to pledge to never mix drugs and driving, and we need the government to follow through with its commitment to tackle this problem. For too long the law on drug driving has been totally inadequate. We need a ban on driving with illegal drugs in your system, and we need roadside drugalysers. The longer this takes, the more lives will be violently and tragically lost."

Andy Goldby, Director of Motor Underwriting and Pricing for Direct Line Car Insurance, said: "Drug driving is as irresponsible as drink driving. The effects of drugs can often leave people feeling overly confident or extremely relaxed, both of which are known to lead to dangerous driving behaviours. We need the loopholes closed and action taken to ensure those who drive under the influence of drugs, are able to be prosecuted more easily."

The consequences
On 26 June 2010 Lillian Groves, 14, was playing in her front garden in New Addington, Croydon, with her brother Oliver, 10, when she went into the road to fetch a ball. Driver John Page, 36, was speeding, uninsured and had been smoking cannabis. He ploughed into Lillian at more than 40mph. She was rushed to hospital where doctors tried to stop the internal bleeding. Just after midnight her parents Natasha and Gary were told she had died from her head injury.

Page had been smoking cannabis that day. Following the collision, police searched the car he was driving and found a half-smoked cannabis joint. A blood test was not carried out until nine hours later. Page tested positive for cannabis, but the levels were not deemed high enough for him to face the more serious charge of causing death by driving under the influence of drugs, which carries a 14-year sentence. Page received a four month sentence for causing death by careless driving and causing death whilst driving uninsured and a two year driving ban. He was released after eight weeks.

Lillian's aunty Michaela Groves said: "Lillian's death has devastated our family. It's left a gaping hole that simply cannot be filled. We will never see her grow up into the wonderful woman we know she would have been. I'm pleading with drivers young and old to commit to never take drugs and drive. It's an atrocious risk that could easily end in death or serious injury." Read Lillian's memory page on Brake's website.

Lillian's family and The Croydon Advertiser have started an e-petition and are determined to get 100,000 signatures. Lillian's family met with the David Cameron on 29th November 2011 to discuss a change in the law (see recommendations below). The Prime Minister was reported afterwards to have admitted that change had 'taken too long' and promised to speed up the process.

Michaela is available for interviews. Contact Ellen on 01484 550067 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Recommendations to government
Brake and Lillian's family are calling on the government to:

• introduce a law making an offence to drive on illegal drugs. Our drink-drive laws mean drivers can be prosecuted for having a certain level of alcohol in their blood, regardless of whether it can be shown their driving was impaired, but this is currently not the case for illegal drugs. Introducing a similar offence for drug-driving would make it much easier to prosecute. Evidence shows a range of illegal drugs affect the skills, coordination and judgment required for driving, [3] so it is fair to assume that drivers with these drugs in their system are impaired. In the government's framework for road safety, published in May 2011, they promised to examine whether to introduce of a law by 2015. Brake argues we need progress now.
• introduce roadside drugalysers. While the current Field Impairment Tests used by police are an important aid to identifying driver impairment, they are subjective and therefore not always reliable in identifying drug driving [4.] Successive governments have been considering the official specifications for drugalysers for a decade: it's time to get a move on.
• Make roads policing a national policing priority, enabling greater resources to be invested in roads policing, and increase police powers to enable random testing, so more tests are carried out and there is a greater deterrent against drink and drug driving.

In March 2011 the government responded to an independent review of drink and drug driving by committing to approve drug screeners for use in police stations, and later at the roadside, and to examine the case for a new drug driving offence, relieving the need to prove impairment. Read their response.

Brake welcomed this, but warns the policies proposed don't go far enough or fast enough. For the past decade, successive governments have promised to tackle the scourge of drug driving but failed to make inroads. Drug driving laws and roadside testing equipment work in other countries including Germany, Australia and Finland so there is no reason to delay in the UK.

Read more on Brake's campaign for zero tolerance on drug driving.

Facts
Drug driving is a widespread menace. 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 [5]. Young drivers are much more likely to take illegal drugs and drive than their older counterparts. Drivers under 25 years old are nearly four times as likely to drive on illegal drugs as older drivers (11% compared to 3%) [6].

Different drugs affect people in different ways and the effects can last for days, sometimes without someone realising. Researchers at the University Claude Bernard in Lyon, France, found taking cannabis almost doubles the risk of being involved in a fatal car crash while mixing cannabis with alcohol increased crash risk 16-fold [7].

Advice for drivers
Drugs and driving is a deadly combination. Illegal drugs can affect a driver's behaviour and body in all sorts of dangerous and unpredictable ways, including: slower reaction times, poor concentration, sleepiness/fatigue, confused thinking, distorted perception and over-confidence. The effects of lack of sleep can also affect illegal drug users for days [8]. The message is simple, if you are driving, don't take illegal drugs, and if you are taking illegal drugs, don't drive until you have completely recovered.

Notes to editors
Brake and Direct Line conducted a survey of 4,640 drivers and riders, 390 of whom were aged 17 – 24. The survey was carried out by Brake volunteers, at locations across the UK. Every effort was made to ensure a wide variety of people responded. Repeating some questions from a 2007 survey by Brake and Green Flag has enabled some analysis of changing driver attitudes and behaviour. Brake thanks all volunteers who helped conduct the survey and collate the results.

For other survey results published by Brake and Direct Line in their series of reports on safe driving, see www.driverpoll.com.

Brake
Brake is an independent road safety charity. Brake exists to stop the five deaths and 65 serious injuries that happen on UK roads every day and to care for families bereaved and seriously injured in road crashes. Brake runs awareness-raising campaigns, community education programmes, events such as Road Safety Week (19-25 November 2012), and a Fleet Safety Forum, providing advice to companies. Brake's support division cares for road crash victims through a helpline and other services.

Direct Line
Started in 1985, Direct Line became the first UK insurance company to use the telephone as its main channel of communication. It provides motor, home, travel and pet insurance cover direct to customers by phone or on-line.

Direct Line is part of RBS Insurance, the number one car and home insurer in the UK (based on policies in force 2010) and is wholly owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Customers can find out more about Direct Line products or get a quote by calling 0845 246 3761 or visiting www.directline.com

Direct Line insurance policies are underwritten by U K Insurance Limited, Registered office: The Wharf, Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4AZ. Registered in England and Wales no 1179980. U K Insurance Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

End notes
[1] 390 young drivers age 17-24 were surveyed in a variety of locations across the UK, Direct Line Report on Safe Driving 2009 – 2011 PART SIX Young drivers, Brake and Direct Line, 2011
[2] The Green Flag report on safe driving PART SIX Young drivers, Brake and Green Flag, 2007
[3] See http://www.dft.gov.uk/think/drugdrive/impairdriving.shtml
[4] Some estimates suggest that more than a third of drivers who drive after taking illegal drugs pass roadside Field impairment tests (FIT tests). Road Safety Research Report No 63 – Monitoring the Effectiveness of UK Field Impairment Tests, University of Glasgow, March 2006
[5] The incidence of drugs and alcohol in road accident fatalities, Transport Research Laboratory, 2000
[6] Direct Line Report on Safe Driving 2009 – 2011 PART SIX Young drivers, Brake and Direct Line, 2011
[7] Cannabis intoxication and fatal road crashes in France: population based case-control study, French National Institute for Transport and Safety Research, 2005
[8] See Brake's fact page on drug driving