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Drug drive campaign launches in Leeds

Meredydd Hughes , ACPO's head of roads policing, last week launched England's biggest anti-drug driving campaign to date in Leeds.

The campaign has been funded by a consortium including LARSOA, Roadaware Partnership, Drug Action Teams, Community Safety Partnerships and the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber.

Meredydd Hughes said: "The true extent of drug driving remains hidden, yet we increasingly know that it leads to casualties on the roads. The police service is determined to find the right tools to tackle the problem."

One of these tools is the new Field Impairment Test (FIT), which enables officers to arrest suspected drug drivers at the roadside.

A recent survey by a radio station in Yorkshire and Humberside found that over a third of drivers admitted to having driven within 12 hours of taking drugs. The most commonly cited drugs were cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines (speed) and cocaine. Over half of these drivers admitted that their driving had been 'impaired' with over one in four of these confessing to having been 'very impaired' .

For more information contact Jan Deans on 07980 851 360 or John Dabrowski on 07810 203 397.