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Changes To The Drug Driving Laws

March 19, 2015 New Laws Comments Off on Changes To The Drug Driving Laws
Changes To The Drug Driving Laws

Changes To The Drug Driving Laws in the UK came into force on the 2nd March 2015. The aim is to make it easier for drug drivers to be caught and prosecuted by the police.

It is now an offence to drive with certain drugs above a specified level in your blood, just as it is with drink driving. Sixteen legal and illegal drugs are covered by the law, including cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine.

The limits for all illegal drugs are extremely low, taking even a very small amount of an illegal drug could put you over the limit.

The new offence will work alongside the existing offence of driving whilst impaired through drink or drugs.

Drug Driving Penalties

The penalties for drug driving are the same as for drink driving. If you are convicted you will receive:

  • A minimum 12-month driving ban
  • A criminal record
  • A hefty fine or up to 6 months in prison or both

The consequences of a drug drive conviction are far reaching and can include:

  • Job loss
  • Loss of independence
  • The shame of having a criminal record
  • Increase in car insurance costs
  • Difficulty hiring a car for 5 years
  • Trouble getting in to countries like the USA

It is illegal to drive if your driving is impaired by drugs or if you have certain drugs above a specified level in your blood.

If the police stop you and think you’re on drugs they will either test you at the roadside using a drug screening device or a “Field Impairment” test to assess your ability to drive.

If drugs are detected in your system or you are deemed impaired by drugs, you’ll be arrested and taken to a police station for blood or urine tests. If the tests show you’ve taken drugs or show a specified drug above the specified blood limits you could be charged with drug driving.

Seek Advice Before Driving

You don’t have to be on illegal drugs to be impaired to drive. Prescription or over the counter medicines can also impair your ability to drive. If you’re taking medicines, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or healthcare professional before driving. It is your own responsibility to ensure that you are not ‘impaired’ while driving.

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The Car Smoking Ban Will Happen

February 17, 2014 New Laws, News Comments Off on The Car Smoking Ban Will Happen

There has been a lot of talk about it in recent years but the government have now stated that it will be a criminal offence to smoke in cars when children are present as passengers. It’s a step in the right direction, you may have seen the countless adverts on TV about smoking next to children with majority of second hand smoke not being visible to the eye, and this is just another statement from the MPs as they have voted in favour of an amendment to the Children and Families Bill in which it gives ministers the power to completely ban smoking when carrying children, it’s also expected that Wales will follow suite in the ban.

There are people that are obviously going to be annoyed at this but they don’t really have a leg to stand on, the health risks associated with smoking inside cars is high with it being somewhat of an enclosed area, researches have said that smoke can stay in the air for up to two and a half hours even if you open the windows further increasing the chance of cancer, infections, asthma and ear problems. This change has pleased many including the Shadow Public Health Minister Luciana Berger who referred to it as a “great victory”.

Just like predicted, the amendment has upset some people such as Simon Clark who is the director of smokers lobby group Forest, his belief is that the government should not be able to rule how people behave in Private. However when it comes to child safety how can you argue against the change?

There still could be a U Turn but it looks very unlikely, and sooner rather than later smoking will become illegal whilst being in cars with children. Another step in the right direction for anti-smoking campaigners.

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Diesel Drivers Face Stricter MOT Tests

December 12, 2013 New Laws Comments Off on Diesel Drivers Face Stricter MOT Tests

As of February 2014 drivers that own a diesel car are to be judged when taking an MOT test much stricter than previously. As standard, Diesel cars have an exhaust filter fitted to their car which is designed to trap diesel particles which are harmful and without the filter they would be released into the atmosphere. Cars that have lost or don’t have their filter will automatically fail their MOT and will need a new one fitted in order for it to eventually be able to pass. (more…)

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What Is BIK Tax?

May 17, 2013 New Laws No comments yet

The BIK tax, Benefit in kind for full has been in the news since the April budgets where announced last year. The changes where a while ago now but the basic outline was that the limit of a £80,000 cost of a company car had been removed which was the first thing to go; now there is constant updates for the tax. There is a change every year and we will run through the last few major changes for you. (more…)

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Green Vehicles Escape Congestion Charge

April 24, 2013 New Laws No comments yet

Following a 12 week meeting London’s own basketball legend and mayor Boris Johnson has confirmed proposals in regards to changes in the terms of the congestion charge scheme. London’s congestion scheme is aimed at reducing traffic by charging drivers that are travelling through London a daily fee which they have to pay, or if they are a regular London goer they can pay it monthly or yearly and recently there had been a 12 week meeting where Boris heard from the views of local people who live within London, Local businesses and key stakeholders their eventual conclusion that they decided upon their needing to be a change in the rules. (more…)

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Police Crackdown On Car Hire Licence Acceptance Terms

April 4, 2013 New Laws No comments yet

On the 1st April Police crackdown on car hire licence acceptance terms and conditions in the means of which licence parts they accept. This is no laughing matter (pardon the April fools pun) but in all seriousness the car hire companies have been told to stay to strict guidelines as to what licences they can and can’t accept in terms of when people come to hire a car with their licence, so what are these changes you might ask and how might it affect me? (more…)

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Motorists with bad eyesight can lose license in hours

February 18, 2013 Motoring Law News, New Laws No comments yet

Now if police are concerned about motorists with bad eyesight they can order an on the spot sight test for the driver.

This test, much like in your original driving test, is to read a car registration plate thats 20 meters away. If this test isn’t completed to the officers satisfaction then they can send the report to the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) which until quite recently took days and even weeks to process and complete. However what they’ve done now in the hope of making the roads safer for all drivers is they can now send the report by email which will only take hours in oppose to what it used to take. This makes it much easier to get motorists with bad eyesight who are a risk to others off the road much quicker.

Motorists used to be able to continue driving through the hours or weeks that the report would take to process, this was a massive danger and the inevitable happened when Jackie McCord’s 16 year old daughter was struck down by a driver who had failed a recent roadside eyesight test and subsequently she was killed. This driver was wrongfully yet legally allowed to drive on the road making it unable to point the blame. Jackie McCord the mother of the girl had numerous campaigns and petitions to see that someone amended this danger hazard, eventually partially successful.

Some drivers still believe that justice was not fully amended as they still don’t see this as a strict enough guideline. Many people believe that drivers should take regular sight tests so it prevents this happening in the first place rather than just waiting for another accident to happen. The subject is still very much open to controversy with a divided split on people unable to come up with a solid conclusion, so it appears that this is the quick solve medium to appease the general motorist population.

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Police get new drugalyser testing kit

February 14, 2013 Motoring Law News, New Laws No comments yet

The police now have a new piece of technology in their arsenal to use at the roadside, they are nicknaming this technological breakthrough as the “drugalyser” which has recently been approved by the Home Office. Previously if the police suspected the use of the illegal substances they had to take you for a blood test which took a considerable amount of time giving the drugs the possibility of passing through your system without a trace.

The way that it will work now is this new drugalyser, if they suspect you are under the influence of drugs they’ll swab your mouth and look for the compound contained in cannabis called tetrahydrocannabinol, However to convict you they still need that blood test but the theory is that this roadside kit will make it much quicker to be eligible for the blood test.

They are very hopeful for the development of this new piece of kit. They believe it will be further developed in the foreseeable future to be capable of not just detecting cannabis, but other illegal drugs as well. The penalties if you’re found to be under the influence of illegal drugs are very similar to the penalties for drink driving thereforeare capable of damagaing your day to day life.

Also coinciding with this groundbreaking discovery Damian Green the Policing and Criminal Justice minister released a statement describing these drugged up drivers as a “menace to pedestrians, other motorists, and themselves” he was also determined to “ensure the police have access to new technology to ensure drug drivers are caught and punished.

Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug in the United Kingdom, the reason they are really trying to crack down on not only this substance but this substance when mixed with driving, it becomes extremely dangerous. Cannabis slows down reaction times making a under the influence driver unable to stop if they came across a situation where they needed to avoid a collision.

A British medical journalist has come out and made a statement that “those driving under the influence of cannabis had nearly double the risk of a crash” which really hits the nail on the head at how dangerous this issue really is. The statement that the police are trying to get across here is think twice before abusing drugs and driving, it could kill someone.

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Can you still get tax discs from your Post Office?

November 26, 2012 New Laws, Travel News No comments yet

Many of us are used the convenience of nipping down to our local Post Office branch and renewing our tax for our vehicles. This may not be an option anymore. In October the DVLA failed to confirm or deny whether the Post Office would continue to act as a portal for people to get their tax discs and their driving licences.

The institution of the post office along with the rival bidder and ‘internet payment service’ Paypoint must now wait until the end on November 2012 to see who has won then ten year contract which is worth six hundred million. Along with the foreclosures of many more local branches of the Post Office only some of the larger branches are staying open which would put the bid possibly in favour of the Paypoint bid.

George Thomson, General Secretary of the National Federation of Sub Postmasters revealed:

“The DVLA contract is essential to the future of our Post Offices. The ongoing delay in announcing a decision on the contract is having a highly unsettling effect on the national Post Office network and on individual sub postmasters’ ability to plan for the future”

He concluded:

“Certainly, if the contract isn’t awarded exclusively to the Post Office it would be catastrophic for the UK’s Post Offices – thousands of branches may be forced to close”

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Immobiliser Device Linked To Car Finance Payments

November 20, 2012 Car Hire Industry News, Car Hire News, New Laws, Travel News No comments yet

A new system is in place whereby vehicles that are purchased on finance can be disabled automatically if motorists miss any payments. This comes from a company in the US called Prompt Pay which offer a keypad operated immobiliser.

The way the immobiliser system works is as follows;

When the first payment is made for the vehicle on finance, then the driver is provided with a 6 digit code which is entered into the immobiliser and allows the car to operate normally. Three days before the next payment for the finance is due the immobiliser springs back into life. This will show a number 3 on the screen, indicating that there are three days until the next finance payment is due. This then counts down to 2 and then 1 depending on the number of days which remain before the next payment for the finance vehicle is payable. The message is reinforced by beeps alerting the driver to the countdown which has begun. If the payment is not made on the requested date then the immobiliser will initiate, preventing the car from starting and stopping the driver from using the car. When the next payment is made the driver is provided with another 6 digit code and is then able to be on their way again with the vehicle.

There are many different arguments to this new procedure. On the one hand, you could have motorists stuck without a vehicle especially with the issues of payments being delayed through banking errors etc. However on the other hand, car companies are not offering a free service, payment for a vehicle must be made if the vehicle is being used. Also it is handy to note that the system offers several advanced warnings before the vehicle is immobilised. Some may view this as a relatively harsh standpoint however it is a fair one if you look at the bigger picture.

What is your opinion on this?

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