Alert over drivers on drugs being ‘tolerated’ by police

DRUG DRIVERS are being “tolerated” on the roads with police officers told to limit the number of blood samples they submit to forensic labs, according to a report.

Inspectors found that one force was only able to process nine blood samples per month due to limited capacity at the lab and tight budgets.

A report on roads policing in seven forces in England and Wales said: “The inescapable conclusion is that offenders who are suspected of driving while under the influence of drugs are being tolerated and allowed to present a continuing threat to communities.

“We don’t believe that this is acceptable.”

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) also revealed that the number of alcohol breathalyser tests slumped by a quarter between 2015 and 2018 – from 425,325 to 320,988 – at a time when the number of deaths caused by drink drivers rose.

Other enforcement measures also dropped, with fines for not wearing a seatbelt falling 75 per cent from around 86,300 in 2013 to about 21,600 in 2018.

In contrast the number of speeding tickets, mostly from cameras, rose by 41 per cent between 2011 and 2018 to 2,105,409.

The watchdog called for roads policing to be treated as seriously as efforts to counter terrorism and organised crime, in view of the number of deaths on the roads, the cost of closing major highways and the links with other areas of law enforcement.

Between 2016 and 2018, 4,872 people died and 69,580 were seriously injured as a result of road traffic collisions in England and Wales.