Drug Driving Reoffending Is Hiding in Plain Sight

New RAC data shows drug driving reoffending is five times higher than equivalent drink driving rates in the UK. Over the last 11 years, 12,391 motorists racked up three or more drug driving convictions. By comparison, only 2,553 drivers did the same for alcohol. The RAC obtained these figures through a Freedom of Information request to the DVLA, and they call the trend an “under-the-radar epidemic.” Current penalties are clearly not stopping people from getting back behind the wheel.

The Numbers Behind Repeat Drug Driving Offences

The DVLA data captures a snapshot as of 20 July 2025. It shows 72,662 motorists carry at least one DG10 endorsement on their licence. A DG10 marks a driver caught operating a vehicle with a controlled drug above the legal limit. That includes illegal substances and certain prescription medicines such as morphine or diazepam.

In total, 41,422 licence holders racked up more than one drug driving conviction since 2014. The breakdown is striking:

• 7,845 drivers hold three endorsements
• 2,661 hold four
• 967 hold five
• 56 hold ten or more

One driver accumulated 18 separate convictions. Another has 17. A further 94 motorists carry eight offences each, and 32 have exactly ten. Arguably the most troubling figure: 4,131 of those with DG10 endorsements earned them while still on a provisional licence, before passing their driving test.

Why Current Penalties Fail to Stop Drug Driving Reoffending

RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis did not mince words: “Drug-driving reoffending rates dwarf those of drink-driving, which suggests current penalties are not effective in preventing some drug-drivers from repeating their crimes and putting everyone at risk.”

Today, a drug driving conviction brings a minimum 12-month ban, a fine, a criminal record, and possible prison time. Yet for many serial offenders, none of that changes their behaviour. A key reason is the absence of any structured rehabilitation pathway.

Drink drivers typically get the option of a rehabilitation course. Finishing it can cut their disqualification period. No such course exists for drug driving. Road safety experts flagged that gap years ago. Now it sits at the heart of the Government’s proposed reforms.

What the Government Plans to Do Next

The Department for Transport is reviewing its Road Safety Strategy. Drug driving reoffending sits firmly on the agenda. One proposal would give police the power to suspend a suspected drug driver’s licence at the roadside immediately, without waiting for the courts.

The Government also wants to introduce a national drug driving rehabilitation scheme, modelled on the drink driving equivalent. Officials believe education and treatment must sit alongside tougher enforcement to break the reoffending cycle.

They are also looking abroad. Australia uses roadside saliva testing far more routinely than the UK does. British police carry drug wipe kits, but deployment does not compare to the near-universal use of breathalysers for alcohol. Scaling that up forms a central part of any credible plan.

A Risk That Falls on Every Road User

These are not abstract statistics. With over 72,000 motorists holding at least one drug driving endorsement, and tens of thousands having repeated the offence, real danger lands on anyone sharing the road with them. One in 11 drivers with a DG10 endorsement has been caught more than once.

The RAC data reveals a public health and road safety problem that grew quietly for over a decade. The proposed reforms, if Parliament moves on them, would mark the biggest change to drug driving law since the DG10 endorsement system began in 2014.

For families who lost someone to a drug driver, the data is not a surprise. It is a long overdue confirmation that the current approach is not working.

Source: dbrecoveryresources