Summer drink drug drive campaign gets underway – a month-long initiative to catch drink and drug drivers.
02 July 2024
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 Operation 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.”
D.tec International is the sole UK distributor for the Securetec range of instant readout disposable drug detection products, DrugWipe. These are used extensively in the UK, Europe and around the world.
DrugWipe is the global leader for police roadside driver drug screening and is also used extensively for safety critical employee drug testing. D.tec supplies all 43 police forces in England, Wales and Scotland as well as hundreds of corporate clients, from household names to many small but safety conscious businesses and organisations.
If you would like to hear more about this topic, please listen to our BACK on air podcasts where Ean Lewin was a guest speaker and also BACDK your people about managing this issue as an employer. Available here or wherever you get your podcasts:
BACK your people – Under the influence? What to do when a driver turns up to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
BACK on air – Drugs and alcohol special 1.
Back on air – Drugs and alcohol special 2.
