On a quiet evening in Englefield Green, Surrey, tragedy struck just yards from Steven Ward’s home. In 2024, the 62-year-old was killed by a car driven by Samuel Russell, a man who was more than 10 times over the drug-drive limit and nearly three times over the drink-drive limit. According to BBC reporting, Russell, aged 37 and from Sutton, had a record of substance abuse and a previous drink-drive conviction. In November 2024, he was jailed after admitting to causing death by dangerous driving.
For Charlie Ward, Steven’s daughter, the loss is immeasurable. “It was heartbreaking he would never walk me down the aisle,” she told BBC News. The grief is compounded by the knowledge that the crash was, in her words, “an accident waiting to happen.” In court, she learned that Russell had used drugs and alcohol to self-medicate for mental health problems. The fact that he was still allowed to drive, despite his history, has fueled a growing movement among families affected by drug-driving tragedies.
Charlie Ward, now 31 and living in Leamington Spa, is one of many calling for urgent legal reforms. “I do believe police officers should be able to take licences if people are testing positive at the roadside,” she said. “It would give families who have something like this happen to them feel there’s an immediate support there.”
She is not alone. Linzi Stewart’s brother, Tim Burgess, was also killed in 2024 by a reckless driver under the influence of cocaine and alcohol in Cheshire. Shockingly, the motorist responsible still held a valid licence, even after being arrested for a crash just days before Tim’s death. That driver was eventually jailed for 12 years, but for Stewart and her family, the sense of injustice lingers.
“To know he was killed by someone who shouldn’t have been on the road, that’s what’s shocking and the government needs to look at those laws,” Stewart told BBC News. She has since launched a petition, which has gathered 195,000 signatures, demanding that dangerous drivers and those under the influence have their licences revoked pending trial and sentencing. She also wants repeat drink and drug drivers to be remanded in custody until they appear before a magistrate. “I think first offence we need to look at licence revocation, bail conditions, possible curfew and tag, something as a deterrent,” she added. “People think they can just do it and get away with it.”
The statistics are sobering. Government figures show a 78% increase in driver fatalities where drugs were present between 2014 and 2023. The rising tide of drug-driving deaths has prompted calls for swift and decisive action. Currently, motorists suspected of drug driving undergo a field impairment test—a type of coordination assessment—at the roadside. Police can also request a preliminary saliva sample. If that test is positive, a confirmatory blood test is required. But there’s a catch: laboratory analysis can take weeks, sometimes up to eight, leaving potentially dangerous drivers on the road during that period.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) is pushing for change. Ch Supt Marc Clothier explained to BBC News, “We’re seeing approximately an eight-week time for most tests to be turned around and come back to us. One of the things we have been pushing for is around some sort of road risk prevention notice, or interim disqualification. That would allow us to take people off the road and stop them driving if they’ve provided a positive test at the roadside, whilst we await for that formal analysis and appropriate justice to take place.”
This sentiment is echoed by Sussex Chief Constable Jo Shiner, the NPCC lead for road policing, whose own father was killed in a crash when she was a teenager. Last year, she called for “stronger, more effective legislation which enables policing and other agencies to revoke the licence of those who offend more quickly.”
The Department for Transport, meanwhile, maintains that it is working closely with policing partners to improve efficiency, while ensuring the integrity of test results that support prosecutions. The department states that providers are currently reporting results within the six-month statutory time limit and that there are no road traffic backlogs in force.
Legal experts believe there may be untapped potential in existing laws. David Barton, a motoring lawyer in Kent, told BBC News, “If they’ve got a prior record and are a repeat offender, many people would say that is something the police ought to be liaising with the DVLA over. If they are a habitual drug abuser, then the DVLA as the regulator has the power to step in and revoke a licence.”
Police officers on the front lines are seeing the shift firsthand. Det Sgt Chris Wade, a fatal and serious crash investigator in Kent, described a “significant increase” in the number of drug drivers. “Now we’re in a position where vehicles are driving past us and they’re taking drugs at the wheel,” he remarked. “If you’d have told the 19-year-old me when I joined the organisation that was going to happen I wouldn’t have believed you. The attitudes around drug driving have certainly not caught up to where they were with alcohol.”
The numbers bear this out. Ministry of Justice data shows there were 28,179 convictions for selected drug-driving offences in the year ending June 2025. That’s a 14% rise from the year before and nearly double the 14,889 convictions recorded in the year ending June 2020.
Against this backdrop, the government has taken steps to address the crisis. A spokesperson stated, “We are committed to making our roads safer. Our new Road Safety Strategy, the first in over a decade, will introduce more measures to keep people safe and our latest THINK! campaign sends a strong warning about the dangers and consequences of drug driving.”
On December 12, 2025, the Department for Transport partnered with several brands to launch a new campaign highlighting the dangers of drink and drug driving. This initiative, spearheaded by the Labour party, targets major road offences and seeks to raise public awareness about the devastating consequences of impaired driving.
For campaigners like Charlie Ward and Linzi Stewart, these moves are steps in the right direction—but they argue that more urgent and robust action is needed. The call for new powers to revoke licences at the roadside, pending full lab analysis, is gaining momentum. Many believe that only by closing legal loopholes and acting swiftly can further tragedies be prevented.
As families continue to grieve, and as campaigners push for reform, the message is clear: the fight against drug and drink driving is far from over. The hope is that with new laws, tougher enforcement, and greater public awareness, fewer families will have to endure the heartbreak that comes when a loved one is lost to a preventable crime.
