Strict new driving laws have lead to a sharp rise in the number of prosecutions and driving convictions in the UK.
Campaigners believe the drug driving issue is potentially a lot more serious.
Police have found a surge in the number of drivers taking illegal drugs in the last few months.
Campaigners believe current rates of convictions is just the tip of the iceberg of a much bigger problem
New Laws
The coalition government introduced a new driving offence for drug driving in England and Wales back in March.
Police have been given new powers to use state of the art “drugalyser” equipment on any driver suspected abusing illegal drugs whether their driving has been affected or not.
Before the new legislation in March, police were required to prove that the drug takers’ driving was impaired before the police could prosecute them.
Driving convictions can now be secured whenever a suspect has high concentrations of illegal drugs in their blood.
drug-driving
Insurance while drug driving
If a driver has an accident while being over the limit for illegal / illegal substances in their blood stream it is highly unlikely that insurance company will pay out, as the driver will be found to not be in a fit state to drive. In addition to this their insurance policy may be revoked as they will have a pending driving conviction on their licence.
It may be the case that the insurance company decides to increase the premium of the insurance policy. The police can also impound your vehicle if you are deemed to be over the limit for drink / drug driving. Getting your car released will be difficult as your current insurance policy may be void and you will need a special new impounded car insurance policy to release your impounded car from the police pound.
Surge in Driving Convictions
Police forces across the country have reported a higher than expected increase in drug driving offences as a result of new legislation.
Prosecutions in London have doubled while in Cheshire they are up by more than 6 fold.
On prosecution, drug drivers can be fined up to £5,000 banned from driving for a year and even face imprisonment.
Currently, police forces across the nation are gearing up for their annual clamp down on drink driving during the Christmas period however this year drug driving is also coming under surveillance.
Christmas Clampdown
New legislation also has upper limits on the levels of legal drugs drivers can have in their system including strong pain killers. However government says that most drivers will be ok to drive safely as long as they stick to the prescribed dosage by their doctors.
