A new advertising campaign warning drivers that the police can spot those who take drugs and drive is being launched. The advert is being aired for the first time on ITV, and features a young male driver with very enlarged pupils - a giveaway sign of drug use, being spotted by police. The campaign also highlights that anyone convicted of drug driving will face the same penalties as those convicted of drink driving - a minimum twelve month driving ban and a large fine and a criminal record.
Research by the Department for Transport shows that one in ten young male drivers reported being under the influence of drugs whilst driving, and that the one in five drivers killed in road accidents may have an impairing drug in their system.
The advertising campaign costs £2.3million but the Transport Secretary Lord Adonis told GMTV it would be "money well spent" if it significantly reduced the number of deaths caused by "drug-driving."
He said: "With drink driving people accept that it is dangerous - it is a social stigma, everyone knows that the law will come down hard on you and that you can kill - with drugs it isn't the same. What we are seeking to do with this advertising campaign is to bring about a cultural change, to get people, particularly young men, to take the same attitude to drug driving that fore twenty or thirty years we have had with drink driving."
Lord Adonis told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the Government as consulting on whether to change the law in relation to driving under the influence of drugs. The current offence is driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drugs, this may be changed to make it an offence to drive after taking illegal drugs.
Full story - The Independent 17/08/09
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