PARENTS of children killed by drug-drivers have urged the Scottish Government to introduce new laws, including roadside tests, to prevent other families suffering the same devastation.

The calls come after the Sunday Herald last week revealed the shocking scale of drug-driving in Scotland, with figures showing the same number of drivers have died on the roads after taking cannabis as those who died after drinking.

Two years ago, legal driving limits for drugs – similar to those in place for alcohol – were introduced in England and Wales, with police forces also equipped with roadside ‘drugalyser’ tests. These saliva tests can detect the presence of both cannabis and cocaine.

In Scotland, not only are there no drugalyser tests, there are no prescribed limits on drug intake and prosecutors still have to prove a person's driving has been "impaired" by them.

Janice Ward, whose 20-year-old daughter Rachael was killed by a drug-fuelled driver, said she could not understand why drug-driving limits and improved testing were not yet in place in Scotland.

She said: “It is not like it is a waste of time, they have really caught a lot of people [in England and Wales].

It is getting them off the road before they do any damage as it is always the other person that comes off the worst.

“[Rachael] was so looking forward to being 21 later that year – all these things were taken from her. It is your worst nightmare. You want to do something to prevent it happening to anyone else."

Rachael Ward was driving home from her work in Tillicoultry in January 2010 when she was hit head-on by Brian Redfern, who was on the wrong side of the road, racing a stranger and driving at speeds of around 74 to 77 miles per hour on a road with a 40 mph limit.

Redfern, who was jailed for seven years but has since been released, was high on amphetamines. His defence lawyer told the court Redfern thought the drugs were “innocuous”.

But on sentencing judge Lord Tyre said: “I conclude that your consumption of amphetamine contributed to your recklessness on this occasion and was a causative factor in relation to the accident.”

Ward, who has been campaigning for improvements in drug-driving detection for a number of years, said: “The driver that hit her hurt his leg and was taken to hospital – that is how it came out he was high on drugs. But if he hadn’t got hurt, nobody might ever have known he had been taking them.

“They should be getting these people off the roads before they are causing accidents.”

She added the loss of her only child had totally changed her family’s lives.

“What have we got to look forward to now?” she said. “Her future was our future and that has all been taken away.”

Val Cumming, from Broughty Ferry, who suffered the loss of her daughter in January 2010, has also backed calls for tougher action on drug-driving.

Her 23-year-old daughter Caroline, who was planning to become a teacher, was killed by a drunk-driver as she was walking home with her boyfriend on the morning of New Year’s Day, after finishing her work in nightclub bar.

Cumming said she was shocked to find out the driver Jamie Dolan, a 17-year-old who was twice the legal alcohol limit, had no driving licence and had never even driven before, had not been tested for drugs.

She said: “I found out there was very little testing [for drug-driving]. There has been no change in seven years – people are still being affected by drug-driving and nothing is being done about it.

“The loss of a child is obviously the most devastating thing that can happen to you.”

The new laws in England and Wales were introduced following a campaign in memory of 14-year-old Lillian Groves, who was killed outside her home in Croydon in June 2010 by speeding driver John Page.

A half-smoked cannabis joint was found on his car dashboard, but he wasn’t tested for drugs until nine hours after the incident and was never charged with drug-driving.

Lillian’s grandfather Peter Sanders said her devastated family had decided to campaign for stricter laws on drug-drivers as they felt it was an issue which had been talked about by governments for years, yet no action was being taken.

“Lilian was 14 and in all of her little life people kept talking about it and not doing anything – we needed something to move on it,” he said.

“We said we are not against anyone living their lives as they want to live their lives, we are only against people who are putting other people’s lives in jeopardy.

“What you do privately is your business – but don’t then get in a car and drive.”

He told the Sunday Herald he was “gobsmacked” that Scotland had yet to introduce similar changes. “It seems silly to have a law for drink-driving and it is not being done for drug-driving," he added.

“Someone who gets into a car under the influence of drugs or drink and then goes and kills someone – that is not an accident.”

Margaret Dekker, secretary of Scotland's Campaign Against Irresponsible Drivers (SCID), pointed out the Scottish Government does have the legislative power to introduce drug-driving limits.

She said: "The greatest deterrent is the fear of getting caught – and it would send a message to these families that all that could be done has been done."

*FOLLOWING the Sunday Herald investigation Minister Nicola Sturgeon has pledged the Scottish Government “will not hesitate” to introduce new drug-driving legislation if evidence from England and Wales shows it can save lives.

The issue was raised at first minister’s questions at Holyrood on Thursday after our story last week pointed out that Scotland had yet to follow England and Wales in introducing drug-driving limits and ‘drugalyser’ tests.

Sturgeon told MSPs: “We will study carefully the available evidence showing the impact that drug-driving limits have had since they were introduced in England and Wales with a view to considering whether legislation should be introduced to establish such limits here.

“If the evidence shows that that has been successful and that lives can be saved, we would not hesitate to legislate here.”

But Conservative justice spokesman Douglas Ross said that it was known there had been a four-fold increase in the number of motorists charged with drug-driving since the legislation changed in England and Wales two years ago, with conviction rates also rising from 52 to 95 per cent.

He added: “Is that not the evidence that the First Minister needs? Why is Scotland behind the curve, compared with the rest of the United Kingdom, on this important issue?”

In response Sturgeon stressed that it is already an offence to be in charge of a motor vehicle while unfit to drive through drink or drugs.

She added: "I understand that, in England and Wales, there are individual limits for 17 drug types. The evaluation is due to be published this year.

“We expect it to be helpful, and it will build on the evidence that the member has already cited so that we can understand the full practical implications of drug-driving limits and whether the potential benefits have been realised in England and Wales.”