Motorists who fail roadside drug tests are being allowed to continue to drive for up to six months because of a backlog in testing confirmatory blood samples.
Some of those drivers have gone on to kill behind the wheel while their results are pending.
The backlog and delay have been described as “unacceptable” by the families of some of those who have died in accidents caused by drug-drivers on bail.
Mother-of-two Jane Hickson died at a junction just metres from her home in Chester when her car was hit by a motorist who had gone through a red light.
It was later revealed that the driver Paul Wright had been on bail for drug-driving at that time, having been arrested six months earlier after testing positive at the roadside.
Police were still waiting for the blood test results at the time of the accident in which Ms Hickson died.
“The fact is that those people are out there, driving under the influence of drugs as we’re sat here now. People are at risk, and I don’t think that’s acceptable,” her husband John told Sky News.
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“It’s hard to move on from something that was such a senseless way for Jane to die. I think it’s also completely avoidable. I think, as a society, we have to do something about it. They need to be off the roads as soon as possible.”
Like many, Mr Hickson believes the system for dealing with drug-drivers has not kept pace with the way drink-drivers are caught. They are generally banned within days as the result of confirmatory breath tests at police stations.
This comes at a time when many police forces across the UK report they now are regularly arresting more people for drug-driving than drink-driving.
Experts point to the system used in France and Australia which tests saliva rather than blood and provides a confirmatory, evidential sample within days.
Ean Lewin, the founder of D.tec International, which provides roadside drug tests to police forces across the country, told Sky News: “Saliva is a perfectly acceptable solution, and it can be processed in the laboratory much quicker.
“If we could have an evidential confirmation within a week, we could maybe get them in court the week after, which is the same timescale as is acceptable at the moment for alcohol.”
In January, the minister for the future of roads, Lilian Greenwood, told the Commons she had heard concerns about the issue first-hand while on patrol with police.
Any action now would come too late for the family of Tim Burgess. He was killed in a collision in July which also left his partner with life-changing injuries.
The other driver, Joshua Eldred, was two-and-a-half times the cocaine limit and 16 times over the limit for a compound which shows recent cocaine usage.
Eldred had been in another crash ten days earlier but had been bailed pending a blood test, meaning he was free to drive. That test later confirmed he’d been taking cocaine.
Mr Burgess’s sister Linzi Stewart has launched a campaign calling for a change in the law.
“I think people just think they can take drugs and get behind the wheel and get away with it because there isn’t an effective system in prosecuting and charging them. There isn’t enough deterrent.
“Road deaths have almost become normalised and there’s so much complacency in the UK around road deaths.”
The National Police Chiefs’ Council declined our request for an interview. Last year it called for new powers to allow officers to instantly disqualify drink or drug-drivers at the side of the road.
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On the backlog of blood tests for drug-drivers, it said: “The NPCC has been aware in the past of difficulties in the processing of drug-drive blood samples, with backlogs and delays up to six months in some cases.
“However, currently the position is much different with the majority of cases now being processed within six months.”
Months-long delays though, families say, are putting lives at risk.
“I don’t feel angry with the offender because I feel that, if he had been dealt with ten days previously, he hopefully would have learned his lesson,” said Ms Stewart.
“His family’s life has been destroyed, his life’s destroyed, our lives are destroyed. If it had been dealt with at the time, then we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
