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Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen has renewed her calls for tougher legislation to tackle the growing epidemic of drug driving following the sentencing of a highly paid engineer.
Jordan Todd, 26, of Cotsford Park Estate, Horden, County Durham, was arrested on November 11 last year following a roadside drugs test.
Police had been concerned about the erratic way he was driving his new Range Rover. Although he passed a breathalyser test, a drugs swipe showed that he had cocaine and ketamine in his system at the time of his offending.
Todd, who could potentially lose his high-paid engineering job because of the offence, narrowly escaped jail. He was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 15 rehabilitation days and told to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work while being banned from driving for 29 months.
PCC Joy Allen, who is Joint Roads Policing Lead for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), said the case illustrated the worrying number of people recklessly getting behind the wheel while unfit to drive through drugs, putting innocent lives in danger.
The PCC is campaigning nationally for tougher measures to deter drug driving including the immediate suspension of driving licences for those arrested and charged with drink and drug driving offences until attendance at court and the introduction of new powers to seize the vehicles of those arrested for drink and drug driving.
She is also urging the Government to introduce mandatory National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme courses for all those found guilty of dangerous driving offences and a change in legislation to secure full cost recovery of those testing positive for drink or drugs.
Locally, the PCC has prioritised Safer Roads in her Police, Crime and Justice Plan, vowing to educate the public on the dangers of drug driving and how long drugs stay in the system and to refresh workplace drug and alcohol policy (Force/OPCC) and commission workplace drug and alcohol testing.
Commissioner Joy Allen said: “The only way to truly protect road users from dangerous and reckless drivers is to take them off the roads as soon as they commit any wrongdoing. This will undoubtedly save lives.
“A growing number of drug driving cases are coming before our courts, emphasising the urgency at which we must act before more lives are tragically cut short. This means educating people about the risks of driving with drugs in their system – legal or illegal – and ramping up our roads policing resources to carry out more enforcement to stop those in no fit state to drive from doing so.
“Road safety is one of the public’s top five priorities and in my recent consultation it emerged that 80% of respondents were concerned about people driving under the influence of drink or drugs. This is why I have prioritised road safety and I will continue to fight for the backing of legislation and funding to give police the powers and resources to make our roads safer for all.”
The five most common detected drugs in general police drug driving tests are cocaine, benzoylecgonine, cannabis,morphine, and ketamine.
The number of deceased drivers with drugs detected in fatal collisions has increased by over 60% from 2014 to 2019.
In 2021, Department for Transport statistics showed that number of casualties in relation to drug-driving was 2,500. This is a surge of 260% since 2012.
Ends
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