A new interactive website has been launched to highlight the effects of different drugs and how they can impact a user's ability to drive.

The online guide covers the effects of cannabis, cocaine and LSD, and explains their effect on the brain as well as performance on the road.

It’s been created by Evans Halshaw after the Government published proposals on the drugs to be included in drug driving legislation and the limits to be specified following a report published in March this year by a panel of medical and scientific experts.

The tool describes the effects on a user's driving, such as speed, response time and perception, and goes on to explain how these are caused by the drug's impact on different areas of the brain.

Drug-driving has become a serious problem on the roads, according to Dr Kim Wolff, the author of the report commissioned by the Department of Transport.

She says that while official numbers indicate drug-driving was a factor in 54 fatal road accidents in 2011 - a figure which rose by three per cent in 2012 - the real number could be closer to 200. In comparison, there were 166 alcohol-related road deaths in the same year.

Victoria Finn, from Evans Halshaw, said: "We hope this website will allow people to learn more about the dangers of drug driving and raise awareness.

“Safe driving and road awareness is at the forefront of everything we do at Evans Halshaw, so it's important to us to get the message across to all UK drivers that getting behind the wheel while under the influence of drugs is simply unacceptable."

To visit the guide, click here.

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