9 May 2012
Drug driving kills somewhere between 100 and 200 people a year
Following today’s Queen’s Speech, drug-drivers are set to be treated with the abhorrence the vast majority of motorists view drink-drivers, the AA says.
Years of hard campaigning by the AA has led to a process that will allow drug driving to be dealt with in exactly the same way as drink driving.
New police powers, to use roadside tests to prove drivers are over a legal limit for drugs tied in with existing powers to prove impairment by those drugs, will start to tackle a death toll that threatens to mirror the drink menace.
This is good news for all who use the roads, blighted by drug driving that kills somewhere between 100 and 200 people a year - maybe more.
Edmund King, AA president
"The Queen’s Speech announcement is good news for all who use the roads, blighted by drug driving that kills somewhere between 100 and 200 people a year - maybe more. That’s in a context of 250 road deaths due to drink-driving," says AA President Edmund King.
It is also something that we have been pressing for since we held a summit on the issue three years ago. The police will then have all the powers they need to enforce the law and deter and catch drug drivers.
(updated 11 May 2012)
AA/Populus poll conducted between 15-22 December 2011
