Drink and drug driving law - Transport Committee Contents


Memorandum from VMCL Ltd (DDD 31)

  The following are the views and comments of VMCL Ltd submitted in response to an email received Saturday 27 August 2010, requesting views from interested parties on Sir Peter North's recommendations.

VMCL LTD

  VMCL Ltd is a training and consultancy company, established in 1993, specialising in alcohol and drug awareness, with particular emphasis on road safety and the working environment. Our services include both re-active and pro-active training. We welcome the publication of Sir Peter North's Review and the opportunity to comment on his recommendations.

  VMCL have participated in the Drink Drive Rehabilitation Scheme since its introduction as an experiment via the Road Traffic Act 1991 and we currently provide training for 125 Magistrates' Courts in the South of England, plus 46 Sheriff Courts in Scotland. In excess of 150,000 drink drive offenders have been referred to our Company for training. The aim of our course is to make roads safer by reducing the drink drive reoffending rate.

  Our client base includes the Courts mentioned above, HM Prison Service, County Councils and large private organisations.

  In addition to providing Drink Drive Rehabilitation Courses, VMCL Ltd has been awarded a contract by the Home Office to deliver training courses across the South of England to support Drink Banning Orders and helps run an Alcohol and Drug Agency dealing with all levels of dependency. This includes providing drug and alcohol assessments in custody suites and assessing patients in hospital.

COMMENTS

Reduction in the permitted blood alcohol limit

  A very fundamental and recurring message throughout our educational courses is "Don't Drink and Drive" and we strongly believe that this simple, yet non-negotiable message makes a major contribution to the successful outcome of our courses.

  We strongly agree the prescribed blood alcohol limit should be reduced to 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. In excess of 150,000 drink drivers have been referred to our Company for training and the same comments are made time and again by the offenders, namely "I didn't realise I would reach the drink drive limit so quickly" and "the limit should be reduced so that everyone knows where they stand. At the moment, I am unsure about how much alcohol is a safe amount, if the limit was reduced it would be easier to understand".

  This comment has been made by literally hundreds of offenders referred to VMCL Ltd for training.

  Even before the publication of Sir Peter's report there was overwhelming evidence that reducing the current level from 80mg/100ml to 50mg/100ml would significantly reduce the KSI figures and the subsequent and associated costs in human suffering and financial cost.

  Sir Peter's report consolidates and highlights the latest information available relating to drink driving and as such presents, in our opinion, an overwhelming case for reducing the legal limit from 80mg/100ml to 50mg/100ml; VMCL Ltd supports this conclusion.

Mandatory one year ban

  Our view is that the mandatory one-year ban should be retained for the new lower level. A reduced ban would send out mixed messages and convey the wrong signals to those that drink and drive. It has been proved in several tests involving vehicle simulators, the Manchester Bus Driver Experiment etc that any amount of alcohol will cause impairment as it affects those faculties essential for safe driving, judgement, reaction time and vision. The message we must reinforce is "You must not drink and drive" not one of "OK if you drink a bit less we won't penalise you so much". This would send out the completely wrong message and potentially undermine the encouraging results achieved so far in reducing the KSI statistics.

  To reinforce the message that drinking and driving is not acceptable, we would achieve a better result by leaving the minimum ban at one year, but offering a greater reduction of say 50% for those who are between 50mg and 80mg in 100ml of blood and who complete a drink drive course, instead of the current maximum reduction of 25% for those who exceed 80mg per 100ml in the blood. This would continue to emphasise the perils of drink driving and support the theme of "Don't drink and drive", but would also highlight the benefits of education in attending a drink drive course. This would also recognise there may be a perception of undue severity of penalty for the lower limit, without the opportunity to voluntarily reduce the mandatory one year ban further.

Pre driver/novice driver qualifications

  It is of some concern to our Company that having been involved with the drink drive scheme since its inception and sitting on the original steering group etc, we have seen no reduction in the number of drink drive offenders referred to our Company for training. The profile of the offender may change over the years, the average age may get lower or higher etc, but the numbers are fairly static.

  It would seem that although the training provided by the drink drive scheme achieves excellent results, a lot more could be done to provide alcohol and drug awareness training to drivers before they are arrested.

  The logical time to conduct alcohol and drug awareness training is at the time the individual is receiving driver training, but not by the driving instructor. The Department for Transport and the Driving Standards Agency have spent considerable time and money in developing a recruitment and training procedure for the continual development of drink drive course tutors, which all drink drive training providers have taken on board. This has been a lengthy process and we are seeing measurable improvements as a result.

  Driving instructors are excellent at one to one training, but when we interviewed two driving instructors for a drink drive tutor vacancy, we found them far from adequate and they really struggled when questioned about group dynamics etc. An important part of alcohol or drug awareness training is group interaction. We find this is essential for the long term learning process.

  To help address the issue of learner/novice driver training, we produced a short four hour module consisting of two x two hour sessions, which we wanted to trial free of charge with learner drivers. However, when we approached our local driving schools with the concept and to obtain referrals, they only wanted to know what was in it for them. When told we would not be charging as it was a trial, no one wished to participate.

Drug Driving

  Sir Peter's report comprehensively documents the lack of reliable information necessary to accurately determine the severity of the problem relating to drug driving, and many of the reasons and the history behind this.

  This lack of evidence based information is clearly a serious obstacle in making informed decisions and consequently those parts of Sir Peter's report which address this issue assume greater importance.

  With the absence of reliable statistics about drug driving from the other agencies, we can only comment on the information we receive from the offenders who attend our drink drive courses.

  Our average course attendance for drink driving courses is fourteen offenders. When we ask if anyone in the room is prepared to admit if they have taken illegal substances and then driven a motor vehicle, at least one person will raise their hand and sometimes as many as three, and these are just the ones who are prepared to admit what they have done. When we ask if anyone knows someone else who has taken illegal substances and driven, at least half the class will raise their hands.

  When those who admit they have committed drug driving are questioned about it, they state they felt safe as they know the Police have difficulty in proving the case, unlike drink driving. One man stated he regularly takes ecstasy and drives. The effect depends on where the drug is purchased. If from club "A", it is probably only made of flour as it has no effect. If, however, it is purchased from club "B" the effect is immediate. On one occasion, after buying the drug in club "B" he started to drive along a dual carriageway, but the road appeared to become narrower and then widen again on a regular basis. Eventually, he stopped because he thought the road was too narrow to travel along, even though he was the only vehicle on a dual carriageway.

  From our experience in helping to run an alcohol and drug agency, it is very clear that the rehabilitation of drug driving offenders cannot follow the exact same path as that for drink drivers.

  The breathalyser measures the consumption of all types of alcohol and the drink drive courses are suitable for all drink drivers no matter what alcohol they have consumed.

  Drug drivers, however, are very different and should be treated according to the drugs they have taken. In the past, VMCL Ltd has produced a course for drivers who have taken recreational drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy and this course was submitted to the DfT for information. This course would be totally unsuitable for someone who was convicted of driving having used cocaine.

  Those who are hooked on hard drugs sometimes have to change their friends, change their job and sometimes move home to help them break their habit and this cannot be achieved with a classroom based course attended by offenders who have taken various drugs.

  The alcohol and drug agency we help run deals with all levels of dependency and unfortunately we have several deaths each year among our patients.

  The first step in helping and educating any drug user is an accurate and detailed assessment by a qualified assessor. They then need a period of one to one counselling, this time by a qualified counsellor. This may only require one session depending on the level of help required. The person is then allocated to a supervised group consisting of other drug users, who either have a similar level of dependency or may use similar drugs. These meet on a regular basis, following a set programme. The process from beginning to end takes approximately 13 weeks and after this period all but the hard drug users show positive results. Our procedures are such, that the agency was the first in the UK to receive the new Kite Mark for alcohol and drug services and we now offer 20 placements each year for students taking degree courses in related subjects.

  It is important that any training or counselling of drug users, even if they are only recreational users or convicted of impairment whilst using prescribed drugs, meets the standards laid down by DANOS to guarantee a measurable level of quality.

August 2010





 
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