UK to clamp down on prescription drug driving

The UK government plans to announce new laws next month that will mean people who drive a vehicle while impaired by prescription drugs can be prosecuted. The new laws are also aimed at 'legal high' drugs, over-the-counter remedies, and will also target a series of loopholes relating to drug driving. According to estimates for the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) drugs are a primary factor in almost 25 per cent of fatal road accidents, while one in ten young drivers admitted to driving while impaired by
April 12, 2012 Read time: 1 min
The UK government plans to announce new laws next month that will mean people who drive a vehicle while impaired by prescription drugs can be prosecuted. The new laws are also aimed at 'legal high' drugs, over-the-counter remedies, and will also target a series of loopholes relating to drug driving.

According to estimates for the Transport Research Laboratory (491 TRL) drugs are a primary factor in almost 25 per cent of fatal road accidents, while one in ten young drivers admitted to driving while impaired by illegal drugs in a 2009 government-sponsored study.

Enforcement

For more information on companies in this article

TRL

Related Content

  • France targets speeding drivers
    February 28, 2013
    The first of three hundred cars carrying speed camera systems are due to start operations on France’s roads on 15 March in around twenty regions. Installed in an ordinary-looking Renault Megane is a new-generation speed camera built into the dashboard with a vehicle detector radar behind the licence plate. Each is capable of detecting speeding vehicles and photographing them, without flash, while on the move at motorway speeds. Although unmarked cars are used, the officers driving them will still be in uni
    Read More
  • TRL’s road traffic safety management system to aid crash reduction in India
    April 2, 2014
    To help reduce the number of serious and fatal road traffic accidents occurring in their region, the Indian State of Himachal Pradesh chose iMAAP and iMAAP mobile solutions for the management of their road accident data. Designed and developed by TRL, the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory, iMAAP is a powerful new software solution for the management, analysis and evaluation of road traffic crash data. It will provide the Himachal Pradesh Government, Police, Road Authorities and other stakeholders with
    Read More
  • US to unify regulations on cell-phone use at the wheel?
    April 19, 2012
    A new bill being presented in the US may ban the use of cell-phones by drivers while at the wheel. Should this bill go ahead, it would unify actions in a number of states under a single law that applies to the entire country. The move, called the Safe Drivers Act, is seen crucial to plans to tackle distracted driving.
    Read More
  • 43% increase in UK employees testing positive for drug use in five years
    July 2, 2012
    One in 30 UK employees have drugs in their system at any point in time within the workplace, according to new statistics released today by Concateno, Europe’s leading drug and alcohol screening provider. These findings, part of the ‘High Society: Drug Prevalence in the UK workplace’ research report, are derived from the results of over 1.6 million UK workplace drug tests over the last five years (2007-2011). In the past five years, there has been a 43 per cent increase in UK employees testing positive for
    Read More

Highlighted Content