Organisation: Department for Transport (DfT)
Date of publication: July 2024
Uploaded to Knowledge Centre: 31 July 2024
This report provides a high-level summary of the latest statistics on levels of drugs in road fatalities. As data on driver drug testing is not yet available within road casualty statistics, this analysis is largely based on data obtained from toxicology information provided by coroners. Unless stated otherwise, figures for deceased drivers refer to those driving or riding motor vehicles.
The data shows that in 2022, there were 185 drivers killed in reported road collisions where at least one impairment drug was detected. This compares to 106 in 2014 and 171 in 2021. It is however lower than the peak of 208 reported in 2018.
The DfT says that these figures are very likely to be underestimates of the actual number of drivers with drugs detected, as there are cases where data is not available, either because coroner data was not provided or a toxicology report was not available.
The department is continuing to explore the feasibility of producing statistics on drug-driving and there are several caveats and limitations which should be noted, as set out in more detail in the detailed feasibility report. Any feedback on the content or presentation of this report is welcome to help in the ongoing development of these statistics.
Download the report from the GOV.UK website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/developing-drug-driving-statistics