Organisation: Home Office Scientific Development Branch
Date uploaded: 17th October 2012
Date published/launched: June 2012
An impact assessment on the introduction of a new offence for drug driving.
Two options were considered:
• Option 0: Doing nothing. This would maintain the existing position and incur no fresh costs or benefits.
• Option 1: To create a new offence of driving with a specified controlled drug above the specified limit in the body. This option is being pursued as it relieves the need to prove impairment by a drug on a case by case basis and will therefore enable more efficient enforcement against drug driving.
This report is an impact assessment on the introduction of the new offence for drug driving.
Key conclusions
• The introduction of the new offence is expected to have an impact on reducing the numbers of road casualties. For the purpose of assessing the possible impact on victims we have looked at the data on road casualties where drugs were recorded as a contributory factor. In 2010, impairment by drugs (illicit or medicinal) was reported as a contributory factor in 1,094 casualties of all severities, including 51 deaths.
• In 2010, 2,674 proceeding were brought at Magistrates Courts under the impairment offence, and of these a total of 1,413 resulted in findings of guilt (at Magistrates or Crown Court). Of those found guilty, 46% were aged between 17 and 29 years, and another 29% were 30 to 39 years old, so those found guilty were more likely to be in these age groups then members of the general population.
• We consider the potential impacts on equality groups among offenders to be justified on the basis that it is a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aim of addressing drug driving and its impact on road safety. We also consider that the disproportionate benefits for the same equality groups in terms of casualty savings provides and additional justification.
For more information contact:
Duncan Price