Today (1st July 2024) is the start of 4-week long drink drug drive initiative which is being coordinated by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and National Roads Policing Operations and Intelligence (NRPOII).
Previously, efforts throughout the year have largely been confined to police forces with a strong focus on roads policing. However, national coordination ensures that every force in the UK will be doing more in the coming weeks to catch drink and drug drivers.
It is the first summertime campaign to be coordinated by NPCC and NRPOII and follows the successful initiative Opeation Limit – the Christmas crackdown on drink drug drivers, which last December resulted in 56,000 drink and drug tests being conducted at the roadside and over 6,600 arrests.
Focus on drink driving over the Christmas period is well-known amongst most motorists supported by a nationwide media campaign designed to remind drivers and create a deterrent.
However, there is much less awareness of the impact of drug driving and that statistically, there are more drink and drug drivers caught during the summer months than during the festive period. In fact, drug driving is now more prevalent than drink driving all year round.
Ean Lewin, Road Safety Campaigner and Managing Director of D.tec International, the UK’s sole distributor of DrugWipe, the global leader for police roadside driver drug screening, used by all 43 police forces in England, Wales and Scotland as well as hundreds of corporate clients said;
“On average, five people are killed every day on UK roads and we estimate that drugs likely contribute to at least one of these tragic and avoidable deaths.
I am pleased to see that NPCC and NRPOII are extending their support for Operation Limit to the summer period, making sure that even more motorists are tested which always leads to more arrests and prosecutions.”