New research confirms that hundreds of people are being convicted every year for driving while under the influence of drugs.
After the new laws were introduced in 2015, convictions for drug-driving offences have increased to an average of four motorists daily, according to Department of Transport figures. Typically, these offences have a conviction rate of 98%.
There were nearly 1,442 motorists prosecuted in the UK in 2015 for various drug-related offences such as driving a vehicle or causing death by driving while being beyond permissible limits of different illegal and medicinal drugs. In case of conviction, motorists generally end up losing their license for a period of one year, or end up paying a fine of £5,000 or are jailed.
Statistics show that 95% of the motorists were male and a whopping 64% of them were in the age group of 16-29 years.
66% of them who were convicted were previously convicted for other offences.
Merseyside police reported that most of the arrests for drug-driving in one month were members of organized crime groups who were known to have a recent criminal history.
Prior to introduction of the law, it was hard for police to prove that a driver was impaired by drugs. The new laws have made it much simpler for police to recognise those driving under the influence of drugs.
Drug Driving Test Kits
Drug Driving Test Kits, or ‘Drugalyser’ kits have helped the police to test for usage of drugs such cannabis and cocaine by using a breath sample.
The law also extends to a number of legally-available drugs which are often abused. These drug include as morphine and temazepam. Amphetamines, is an illegal drug but can be prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The results of the drugalyser test can be submitted as conclusive evidence to the courts.
Photo Credit: “Scotland Police” (CC BY 2.0) by Michel Curi