Driving law changes gain support amid calls to crack down on motorists with ‘1,000 more roads police’
Experts are calling for significant road changes to be introduced to protect motorists as data shows a legal loophole leads to more deaths behind the wheel than from terrorism.
As the UK marks the 10th anniversary of Section 5A of the Road Traffic Act, safety campaigners are demanding a major overhaul of drug-driving enforcement.
The AA and D.tec International are urging the Government to introduce evidential roadside saliva testing to close dangerous loopholes in the current system.
The law, which came into force in March 2015, made it illegal to drive with specified controlled drugs in the body above set limits.
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While the landmark ruling was a massive step forward, campaigners argue the follow-up system is failing victims, families and communities.
Under current law, drivers who test positive at the roadside must provide an evidential blood sample.
This process is fraught with problems, including shocking delays of up to six months before laboratory results are returned. During this extended waiting period, the offender remains free to drive on UK roads.
The consequences are devastating, with 1,624 people killed on UK roads in 2023 alone. This death toll exceeds those from murder and terrorism combined.
Every day, five lives are lost and 77 serious injuries occur on Britain’s roads, prompting the AA to highlight that an unknown number of drug drivers completely evade justice when labs fail to return results within the six-month legal deadline.
This is the maximum time police have to authorise charges for road traffic offences such as drink and drug driving. When test results arrive too late, dangerous drivers escape prosecution entirely.
This systemic failure creates a significant loophole in the UK’s road safety enforcement.
Critics describe this situation as “nothing short of a national disgrace” as it allows known offenders to potentially remain on the roads indefinitely.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for The AA, said: “Drug driving is fast becoming a major road safety concern which needs urgent action. Modernising the prosecution process can help take more dangerous drivers off the road, while keeping costs down for police forces.
“Similarly, just one in 10 believe that drug drivers will be caught and prosecuted which often means people feel they can get away with it. Hiring 1,000 more roads police, as well as allowing saliva samples as evidence will stop people getting behind the wheel after taking illegal substances.”
Other countries have already moved beyond the UK’s outdated system with impressive results, including Australia, which has used immediate roadside evidential saliva sampling for nearly two decades.
France has also recognised the failures of blood sampling and switched to roadside evidential saliva testing which has achieved a virtually perfect confirmation rate in France.
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Ean Lewin, managing director of D.tec International, said the UK’s “broken system” has kept dangerous drug drivers on the roads while victims and their families suffer the consequences.
He added: “This is solely because outdated laws force police to rely on impractical blood confirmation testing, plagued by inherent laboratory delays.
“The solution is simple: allow police to take immediate roadside evidential saliva samples. Other countries have done this for years – why is the UK still falling behind?”