MILLIONS of us are driving while high on illegal drugs, according to a new report.

Though a certain degree of scepticism always ought to be attached to surveys which talk to a limited sample of people and from which wider results are then extrapolated, the findings of this report are quite staggering.

The survey was carried out by Opinium for Direct Line Insurance found that 7% of the UK’s 49.1 million adults admitted to driving while under the influence of drugs.

Of these, 1.1 million had done so in the past year. In the past 12 months, one in three drug drivers had used cannabis, one in seven had taken cocaine and one in ten ecstasy, before taking to the roads. The Association of Chief Police Officers says that one in five drivers killed in road accidents may have had an impairing drug in their system.

And more than 2,000 people are killed as the result of motoring accidents each year.

The Department of Transport has announced a clamp down on drug driving, though as ever, it’s not entirely clear how much cash is being injected into this latest safety initiative.

Surprisingly, although drugs testing devices are being introduced in police stations, there are no plans for similar equipment at the roadside.

Given the apparent scale of the problem - and there’s no reason to believe it isn’t a big one, it’s clear that this needs to be a major priority. Surprising too, that it either doesn’t exist or isn’t already being funded.