Andrew Snowden
Main Page: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)Department Debates - View all Andrew Snowden's debates with the Department for Transport
(1 day, 14 hours ago)
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Lilian Greenwood
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that case. Every single death on our roads is tragic, which is precisely why we will bring forward further measures with the new road safety strategy—the first in more than a decade—which will consider how to prevent such appalling tragedies, including in her constituency.
Mr Andrew Snowden (Fylde) (Con)
As police and crime commissioner for Lancashire, I invested significant amounts of money in increasing the resources available to target drink and drug drivers, which is a key plank in improving road safety. It has become easier for police to target drug drivers over recent years, in particular through the advancement of technology, but while arrest rates have improved, charge rates are still lagging behind; it takes months for drug drivers, compared with weeks for drink drivers. D.tec International is a Fylde company that provides all 43 police forces with DrugWipe kits. It would like to use technology that is used in other European countries to improve charge rates through the use of roadside saliva testing. Will the Minister meet me and D.tec International to look at how this technology could improve the speed with which we can get drug drivers banned and off our roads?
Lilian Greenwood
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to raise concerns about the impact of drug driving. Those affected by an impairment drug were involved in 13% of fatalities last year. Just before Christmas, I went out with Jo Shiner, one of the leading police officers responsible for roads policing, and saw the work that is happening and heard about prosecutions, which the hon. Gentleman has raised. I would be very happy to meet him to discuss the matter further.