Drug-driving crashes double in just five years as RAC accuses government of ‘complacency’ on road safety
- Number of road accidents caused by drug-driving more than doubled in 5 years
- DfT said 1,321 crashes were caused by drivers under influence of drugs last year
- RAC said statistics worrying, accused the Government of complacency
The number of road accidents caused by drug-driving has more than doubled in five years.
There were 1,321 crashes caused by drivers under the influence of drugs last year, compared to 594 in 2013, the Department for Transport (DfT) said on Thursday.
Worse, drugs were a factor in 80 road deaths last year – compared to just 31 six years ago.
The RAC Foundation said the statistics are ‘worrying’, and it has accused the Government of complacency over road safety.
Motorway deaths also rose despite moves to make them safer, with 107 fatalities last year – up eight per cent on 2017. Motoring groups fear the removal of hard shoulders on so-called ‘smart motorways’ where stricken drivers have no choice but to stop in ‘live’ lanes.
There were 1,321 crashes caused by drivers under the influence of drugs last year, compared to 594 in 2013, the Department for Transport (DfT) said on Thursday. DfT statistics suggest that tougher penalties on mobile phone use are working (stock image)
They have emergency lay-bys every 1.5 miles instead.
It is not clear how many of the recorded deaths were on smart motorways, which are to be renamed ‘digital roads’ and currently account for at least 416 miles of Britain’s motorways.
That is set to almost double to 788 miles by April 2025 under the Government’s road strategy. The system currently operates on parts of the M1, M4, M6, M25, M42, M60 and M62. By contrast, deaths on rural roads were down three per cent last year from the year before.
And the DfT statistics suggest that tougher penalties on mobile phone use are working.
Although the number of road deaths caused by using handsets rose from 32 in 2016 to 33 in 2017, it fell to 25 last year.
New laws against using a mobile phone behind the wheel were introduced in 2017 after a Daily Mail campaign. The number of accidents also decreased, from 478 in 2016 to 431 in 2017 and 423 last year.
RAC head of policy Nicholas Lyes said: ‘Of particular concern are the rises in fatalities among older age groups and a spike in motorway fatalities.
‘Some worrying trends are emerging here that require immediate investigation, to understand the reasons for these increases and what can be done to reduce them.
‘In addition, the Government’s data suggests an increase in motorway collisions where at least one driver has been under the influence of illegal drugs.’
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: ‘We are progressing more than 70 different measures to help improve safety, for everyone from infants in car seats to those with years of driving experience.
‘I have also asked the Department to urgently look at technological interventions to help reduce the number of young drivers killed.’
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