UK striving for safer roads
Successfully combating drug driving
The United Kingdom has been sending a clear and targeted message with its Operation Limit campaign, which has seen remarkable success over the past five years. Every December, police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland embark on a widespread campaign of roadside testing. The figures for drugdriving offences detected each year remain sobering.1 The campaign uses DrugWipe®, which has been in use in England and Wales since 2015.
In December 2025, 45 police forces across the UK mobilised officers and carried out testing on over 74,000 drivers. This huge undertaking was only possible due to the commitment of the officers involved. And their efforts paid off: Of the 7,727 quick screening drug tests conducted, 3,263 returned positive results. These figures were a bitter pill to swallow, as they meant that almost every second driver tested (42.2%) was driving under the influence of drugs. These drug drivers were promptly taken off the road thanks to rigorous screening.2
“No celebration is worth a life”
This was the message from Sussex Police as the force launched Operation Limit in 2025. The message behind the slogan is simple yet vitally important. Keeping a clear head behind the wheel saves lives – and not just your own. The targeted media campaign was designed to raise awareness of the hidden dangers of driving under the influence of drugs. Despite this, figures indicate that many drivers remain alarmingly willing to take this risk.
The results of the geared-up roadside checks in Sussex speak for themselves: 165 people were arrested for drug-driving and 134 for drink-driving. Most of the drivers (around 80%) willing to take this risk were male.3
Reaping the rewards
The United Kingdom is consistently improving road safety through its use of trained professionals, planning, educational initiatives and suitable drug tests. The focus is on drug-related offences, which in some cases exceed the number of alcohol-related offences.
“The Christmas drink and drug driving crackdown brings together all police forces in a positive coordinated effort to tackle this driving behaviour.”
(Chief Superintendent Marc Clothier is National Police Chiefs’ Council Operational Lead for Operation Limit)
Scotland rolls out its use of roadside drug testing
Scottish police have been using the DrugWipe quick screening drug test since 2019 to make roads safer and save lives. In the first year alone, the number of arrests was higher than had been anticipated. While DrugWipe had previously been used by specialist traffic police officers only, a pilot project was launched at the end of 2024 which also involved local police forces on the Shetland Islands. They successfully conducted quick screening drug tests during roadside screening over a period of six months. The pilot project was subsequently rolled out to two other regions that already had high apprehension rates. The goal is to reduce the number of accidents involving injuries and fatalities caused by people driving under the influence of drugs. Scotland also ramped up its roadside drug testing during the 2025 Christmas period. The apprehension rate was high, with 64% of quick screening drug tests returning a positive result.4, 5 This highlights the need to continue taking firm action against driving under the influence of drugs through both deterrence and awareness, and to take drug drivers off the roads – to keep everyone safe.
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References:
1 O. V. (2025), Nearly 60,000 drink and drug tests conducted in crackdown, www.npcc.police.uk (13.03.26),
2 Drink und Drug Headline Statistics, NPCC, link to the presentation, (26.3.26);
3 O. V. (2026), Record number of arrests in Christmas crackdown on drink and drug-drivers, Sussex Police, sussex.police.uk (9.4.26);
4 Hosie, L. et al. (2025), Swift roadside drug tests rolled out by police, BBC.com (13.03.26);
5 O. V. (2026), Results of festive enforcement campaign, Police Scotland, Scotland.police.uk (9.4.26)
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