New Drug Driving Offence

Crime and Courts Bill – New Drug Driving Offence

Legislation is currently in Parliament which will make it an offence to drive a motor vehicle if you have certain controlled drugs in your body in excess of the limits set for them.

The new drug driving offence will improve the law available for tackling the problem of drug driving, which presents a significant road safety risk. The new offence contains a statutory defence for those drivers who have taken medicines containing specified controlled drugs in accordance with medical advice. The bill was introduced in the Lords on 10 May 2012 and is now progressing through the Commons and is expected to reach Report stage and 3rd reading in mid March. Royal Assent is expected in April 2013. Regulations will be drafted during 2013 and 2014, setting out the controlled drugs to be specified and their limits.


A related issue is the availability of drug screening devices, both at the roadside and in police stations. These devices would act as “preliminary” screeners, giving an indication of whether a drug is present in a driver’s body above a certain concentration. A blood test would still be required in order to provide evidence for a conviction. A positive result from a preliminary drug test obviates this requirement to obtain a doctor’s opinion that the person has a condition which might be due to some drug before a requirement for blood can be made. Therefore screeners would simplify the process of dealing with suspects under both the existing impairment offence and for the new specified limit drug driving offence.

The Home Office has now type approved a station screening device. It is now for the manufacturer to market and police forces to purchase and deploy the device. For roadside screening devices, the specification will be issued shortly after the publication of the panel’s report to ensure that the roadside device covers the right drugs at the right limits.

The Department for Transport has also set up a panel of medical and scientific experts to advise the Government about which controlled drugs might be included in the subsequent regulations and the specified limits they may wish to set. The panel’s report is due to be published in February 2013.