Throughout the month of December, Dorset Police’s Road Policing Unit has focused on the annual Christmas drink and drug drive campaign. The results of this year’s initiative will be published in due course, but I want to talk generally about the issue of drink and drug driving, and why I am calling for harsher punishment in the most serious of cases.

Of course, policing dangerous drink and drug drivers is not just a priority confined to the Christmas period. Dorset Police’s dedicated Roads Policing Unit is committed to tackling these irresponsible drivers 365 days a year and do a commendable job in helping to keep Dorset’s roads safe.

I know the people of Dorset want road safety to be a priority; that is why I made it a key part of my Police and Crime Plan, under Cut Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour. As well as highlighting the importance of road safety awareness and ensuring emerging road safety issues are dealt with robustly and appropriately, I am fully committed to lobbying for tougher sanctions and new powers to tackle offending and anti-social motorists.

As part of this determination to fulfil my commitment to this priority, I have recently asked the Government to consider allowing charges of manslaughter to be brought if a drink or drug driver kills someone on the roads. I do not believe the current law goes far enough, nor acts as enough of a deterrent. A vehicle is a weapon when in the wrong hands, the hands of someone who is intoxicated and does not have full control of themselves, or the vehicle they are driving.

We need to be able to treat these offences with the seriousness they deserve. Two recent cases in Dorset involving drug drivers have further convinced me I am right in calling for this change. One involved a grandmother from Wyke Regis who died in a collision outside her home last year.

The driver of the vehicle was sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of causing death by driving without due care and attention while over the specified limit for cannabis. The other case involved a young driver who was sentenced to eight years in prison for causing death by dangerous driving when he was also under the influence of drugs.

Both these reported cases had devastating consequences not just for those who lost their loved ones, but the wider community, and the families of the perpetrators. They acutely demonstrate the tragic and wide-ranging impact a decision to get behind the wheel of a vehicle while intoxicated can have.

While Dorset Police will continue to do all they can to remove drink and drug drivers from the roads and ensure the appropriate education and sanctions follow, they can only do so much.

It is up to each and every driver to take responsibility for their own behaviour and actions behind the wheel and I hope tougher punishment for those who flout the law and put themselves and others at risk of serious injury or worse, will send a clear message that this mindless recklessness will not be tolerated.

David Sidwick

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner