Treat drink-drive killers like murderers, says police chief
DRUG and drink drivers who kill on the roads should be treated like murderers, Britain’s head of road policing has said.
Chief Constable Jo Shiner called for tougher sentences, saying intoxicated motorists who cause fatal crashes should face the same punishment as a murder charge.
She called for roadside drug testing, which would allow for instant driving bans. At present, officers must wait months for test results to come back.
Ms Shiner spoke out as the highest-ever level of arrests for drink and drug driving were recorded, with around 220 caught each day.
The Sussex chief constable believes that penalties being handed out to drivers are not a deterrent and that those who cause serious injury or death should be locked up for life.
‘If someone takes the decision to get behind the wheel of a car when they have taken drink or drugs and would know what impact that would have on their driving, why would you not expect them to face the full consequences?’ she said.
‘I liken it to some of the homicide investigations, to some of the sentences that we get for murders.
‘I actually do believe that if someone makes that decision to get behind the wheel, under the influence of drink or drugs, that is a conscious decision they have made… to put others at risk.’
The penalty for causing death by dangerous or careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs was recently raised from 14 years to life imprisonment. But in practice, few drivers face substantial sentences.
The charity Roadpeace found the average sentence handed out in 2016 was less than four years, with some offenders being let off with suspended sentences or community punishments. Unlike breathalyser tests, which can be carried out at the roadside, drivers thought to be on drugs must have a blood sample taken to measure the exact amount in their system.
Results can take months, and it may then be too late to prosecute due to the six-month statutory limit for drug driving cases. Police are powerless to keep suspected drug drivers off the road while they await results.
In one case, a motorist was caught another eight times while his test results were pending.
Other countries in Europe already rely on saliva drug testing, carried out at the roadside at a fraction of the cost. Ms Shiner said police chiefs are in discussions about the type of tests that could be used and the legal changes needed to make this possible.
She added: ‘The ability for us to be able to disqualify people either for drink or drug- driving by the roadside would mean that we can immediately take that risk off the road. And those people haven’t got the ability to be behind the wheel, particularly if they’ve blown well over the legal limit.’
The senior officer’s comments came after a national month-long crackdown revealed a 28 per cent surge in arrests of intoxicated drivers – from 5,186 in 2021 to 6,616 in 2023. Officers carried out 6,846 drug tests, with 48.5 per cent testing positive.
Last year a National Police Chiefs’ Council report found that ‘drug driving is more prevalent across the UK than drink driving’.
‘Conscious decision they have made’