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New laws come into force on the 2^nd March 2015 regarding drug driving. Previously the law has been somewhat loose, mainly because detection has been so hit and miss. Up until now the law has concentrated on illegal drugs such as cannabis and cocaine but the new legislation mentions specifically not only 8 illegal drugs but also 8 prescription drugs.

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Currently the police have to show that your driving is impaired through taking drugs but in future they will simply have to show that you have taken drugs if they are of the illegal variety. This will be done at the roadside with up to 3 separate saliva tests. If the tests show that the driver has taken drugs he will be taken to a police station where a blood test will be taken.

Motorists found guilty will receive a ban of at least 12 months as well as a jail term of up to 6 months and a fine of up to £5,000. Their driving licence will show that they have been convicted for drug driving and this will remain on their licence for 11 years. Whilst 8 prescription drugs have been included in this legislation drivers are warned that they should not drive if taking any prescription drugs that could affect their driving.

Drivers on medication should seek the advice of their GP or a pharmacist who can advise. In the case of prescription drugs you won’t be convicted if the levels within the body are within the prescribed dosage level unless you are instructed not to drive when taking the drugs. The eight drugs included in the legislation are: clonazepam, diazepam, flunitrazepam, lorazepam, oxazepam, temazepam, methadone and morphine.

It is recommended that if you are taking prescribed drugs that you carry a copy of your prescription. Whilst the mere taking of illegal drugs then driving is illegal so is taking a drug that you are told you shouldn’t take and drive. Be very careful, you could lose your licence.

If you run a company with employees that drive on company business make sure that you have made them aware of the changes in legislation on the 2^nd March. It is part of your duty of care. An accident caused by drugs whilst the employee is on company business could land both of you in court. By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Could you be a ‘drug-driver’? (express.co.uk)

I’m a bit of a guru when it comes to Internet dating. I’ve had a lot of successes and a few disasters but in the meantime a lot of fun! Internet dating is the second best thing ever invented behind chocolate and I am fortunate enough to have dated women from all backgrounds and ethnicities both young and old (mainly young – what?).

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My last serious girlfriend was from the Philippines and in her 20’s. We met online and chatted for a year before we started dating and we dated for around a year. It was great. I met her on Plenty of Fish, a great free dating website, however I wouldn’t meet her today because the Canadian owner has decided that you can only chat to women (or men) plus or minus 14 years of your age.

How ridiculous is that? Women on dating sites can ignore anyone approaching whom they believe to be inappropriate and ultimately they can block them so why impose this arbitrary rule? It’s just this sort of big brother attitude that gets me angry (for obvious reasons). What has this to do with cars?

Well Apple have just applied for a patent that would allow them to lock out their smartphones if they detect that they are being used whilst driving. They will prevent you from sending text messages and using apps whilst behind the wheel. How big brother is that? Whilst I totally disapprove of drivers phoning, texting or playing games on their mobiles (do they actually do that) whilst driving it should just be made illegal not a patent pending!

My somewhat youthful ex girlfriend loved playing something called candy crush on my mobile. Does that mean that whilst the phone could detect movement it would prevent her using the game? I have friends who pass their phones over to their kids whilst driving to entertain them.

Apple Classic Logo Web 2.0 (Photo credit: Alistair Israel)

If they can no longer do that the kids would become ten times more distracting than a text message. Good grief can’t these people think through to the consequences of their actions? By Graham Hill

I listened very carefully as the debate over smoking in cars with children onboard rolled on. As someone whose father smoked like a chimney in his car whilst my brother, sister and I breathed in the disgusting smoke, when we were very young, I know how uncomfortable it can be.

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It was bad enough in the house but in the confined space of a Morris 8 it was very uncomfortable and very selfish although I accept that at the time he didn’t know the potential harm he was doing. Fast forward to the 21^st century and the fact that cigarette packs tell you that smoking kills I find it hard to come up with an argument for not banning smoking in cars that are carrying children.

It is already illegal for drivers of company vehicles to smoke in their cars, vans and trucks so I couldn’t understand the ‘impossible to police’ argument as there are already legally enforceable laws banning smoking. If laws were only introduced if they were easy to enforce we would have very few laws on the statute book so like most people I agree with the ban and that we shouldn’t simply rely upon the responsibility of parents.

Lets face it if parents were responsible we wouldn’t be considering the new law in the first place to protect children, it would be unnecessary. It is illegal to batter kids even in the parent’s own home but virtually impossible to enforce, unless a child is taken to hospital and the police alerted so the ‘unenforceable’ argument doesn’t wash as a reason not to pass the law.

If parents light up in the car their babies and children can’t simply scramble out of their childseat or babyseat, climb out of the car and continue their journey on foot (or crawling) to avoid the smoke that they don’t know is harming them in the first place. So it now looks like the law will have grudging approval but how serious are those that say they are in favour?

On the 4^th October last year, in an old blog posting, I revealed that a Canadian company had developed an App that allowed anyone with a smartphone to photograph cars that are illegally parked which would be date and time stamped, located by GPS and with the use of plate recognition, the driver of the car identified.

This information would be forwarded to the local authority for a ticket to be issued, using the information captured by the app to convict the miscreant. Once convicted the person providing the information will receive part of the fine imposed. This apparently works in Canada whilst in the US there is a similar app used to convict anyone parking in a disabled parking space.

But could and should it be extended to cover other crimes such as driving without a seatbelt fastened, using a mobile phone or smoking in a car with children onboard? I’m sure that there are passionate people out there that would provide the evidence through a purpose created app for no fee. So if enforcement is the problem is this the direction we should be moving in? I would welcome your thoughts – without the expletives! By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Ban smoking in cars carrying children: Labour forces vote on new law to fine offenders £60 (dailymail.co.uk)

We all know that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. And man’s best friend is a dog (don’t even go there). But apparently after my report last week that a number of drivers would give up sex rather than their cars (mind you the research was carried out in Canada) we now have research showing that drivers regard their cars as their best friend. I kid you not. It was announced on BBC’s Radio 4 – so it must be true! So Read more »

What would your choice be – sex or a car? Yep the question has actually been asked of  Canadians. They were actually asked if they would prefer driving to having sex? Amazingly only 1 percent said they would give up driving over a range of pleasures including sex although more were prepared to give up junk food and coffee there were still a few that would give up sex as reported by the Toronto Star. Would I give up sex in place of my car? Don’t be daft – but would you? By Graham Hill

The new prime minister has suggested that he won’t pick on motorists to dig the country out of the deficit single handed – yeah right! To date we’ve had to accept that if we are to save the bit of atmosphere above the UK we must think green and therefore drive more fuel efficient and low CO2 emitting vehicles. The way the government has done this is to make us pay, obviously reluctantly but of course it’s for our own good Read more »

A warning has gone out from representatives of the car manufacturers about the use of Morrisons’ Bio Fuel called B30. It would seem that using this fuel could invalidate the manufacturer’s warranty. The warning was issued by service maintenance and repair expert Motorconsult about the new 30% biofuel. For those who don’t understand the expression biofuel this is Read more »

The Health & Safety Act 2008, which increases penalties for those who break health and safety laws, has received its royal assent. The act raises the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000 and the range of offences for which an individual can be imprisoned has also been broadened. I will hopefully be able to bring you more information over the next few weeks. Don’t forget that health and safety at work extends to vehicles used for company business. By Graham Hill