Drug drive epidemic: Oldest offender was woman aged 77
DRUG drivers aged from 15 to 77 are being caught high on cocaine and cannabis, shocking figures reveal.
A total of 19,828 motorists were reported by police for drug driving last year, with the youngest being boys aged 15 and the oldest offender a 77-year-old woman.
The Mail has obtained data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency that reveals cannabis is causing the biggest problem, with more than 10,000 drivers caught on the drug last year.
Overall, more than half of the culprits were found to have cannabis in their blood.
But the DVLA results show that thousands more motorists were found to be high on cannabis and cocaine, or cannabis in combination with another drug.
There were also dozens of shocking cases where drivers had taken a cocktail of four or more drugs, including cannabis, cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy and amphetamine before getting behind the wheel.
The startling figures come after the Mail revealed yesterday that drug driving had overtaken drink driving for the first time and scores of offenders were dodging justice.
A total of 10,190 drivers were found to be over the legal limit for cannabis last year, with another 1,934 testing positive for cannabis and cocaine.
Analysis shows the latter is the second most common substance, with 5,980 drivers found to be on the class A drug. Thirty-five pensioners were reported to the DVLA by police last year, including those found to have taken cocaine, cannabis and amphetamines.
The figures show that the number of male offenders outnumbered women ten to one.
Yesterday the Mail revealed a National Police Chiefs’ Council report that concluded ‘drug driving is more prevalent across the UK than drink driving’. But many motorists are still not being prosecuted due to delays in processing tests. In the report, police chiefs warn about the prohibitive cost of carrying out blood tests and an average four to five-month backlog for results.
It said: ‘The Home Office should review the blood testing process and seek ways to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of laboratory testing by increasing capacity, improved procurement, or other means.
‘This review should also evaluate the possibility of seeking to reclaim blood testing costs from those found guilty.’
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, said: ‘Drug driving has been a silent epidemic in road safety for the last few years and it is time the issue was given some serious scrutiny.
‘Public perception may consider it to be a “young driver” problem but with the average age of drugdriving convictions being in their early 30s it shows that this offence is more widespread. We need more education of the dangers, as well as more enforcement.’