PCC issues fresh call for tougher drug driving laws after Range Rover driver sentencing
POLICE and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen has renewed her calls for tougher legislation to tackle the
growing epidemic of drug driving following the sentencing of a highly paid engineer.
Jordan Todd, 26, of Cotsford Park Estate, Horden, County Durham, was arrested on November 11
last year following a roadside drugs test. Police had been concerned about the erratic way he was
driving his new Range Rover. Although he passed a breathalyser test, a drugs swipe showed that he
had cocaine and ketamine in his system at the time of his offending.
Todd, who could potentially lose his high-paid engineering job because of the offence, narrowly
escaped jail. He was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 15 rehabilitation days and told
to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work while being banned from driving for 29 months.
PCC Joy Allen, who is Joint Roads Policing Lead for the Association of Police and Crime
Commissioners (APCC), said the case illustrated the worrying number of people recklessly getting
behind the wheel while unfit to drive through drugs, putting innocent lives in danger.
The PCC is campaigning nationally for tougher measures to deter drug driving including the
immediate suspension of driving licences for those arrested and charged with drink and drug driving
offences until attendance at court and the introduction of new powers to seize the vehicles of those
arrested for drink and drug driving. She is also urging the Government to introduce mandatory
National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme courses for all those found guilty of dangerous driving
offences and a change in legislation to secure full cost recovery of those testing positive for drink or
drugs.
Locally, the PCC has prioritised Safer Roads in her Police, Crime and Justice Plan, vowing to
educate the public on the dangers of drug driving and how long drugs stay in the system and to
refresh workplace drug and alcohol policy (Force/OPCC) and commission workplace drug and alcohol
testing.
Commissioner Joy Allen said: “The only way to truly protect road users from dangerous and
reckless drivers is to take them off the roads as soon as they commit any wrongdoing. This will
undoubtedly save lives.
“A growing number of drug driving cases are coming before our courts, emphasising the urgency
at which we must act before more lives are tragically cut short. This means educating people about
the risks of driving with drugs in their system – legal or illegal – and ramping up our roads policing
resources to carry out more enforcement to stop those in no fit state to drive from doing so.
“Road safety is one of the public’s top five priorities and in my recent consultation it emerged
that 80% of respondents were concerned about people driving under the influence of drink or
drugs. This is why I have prioritised road safety and I will continue to fight for the backing of
legislation and funding to give police the powers and resources to make our roads safer for all.”
The five most common detected drugs in general police drug driving tests are cocaine,
benzoylecgonine, cannabis, morphine, and ketamine. The number of deceased drivers with drugs
detected in fatal collisions has increased by over 60% from 2014 to 2019.
In 2021, Department for Transport statistics showed that number of casualties in relation to drug-
driving was 2,500. This is a surge of 260% since 2012.
