Car accident compensation claims as the result of drugs at music festivals.

Festivals, drugs and driving - a car accident compensation cocktail.

As the evenings lengthen and the days warm up, music lovers all over the country are getting ready for the festival season.

From all corners of the UK, and indeed from all over the world, people will pack their shorts and their tents and head off to Glastonbury, Reading or the Isle of Wight to soak up the sun and enjoy their favourite bands.

Free for a while from the constraints of everyday life and the rigours of slaving away from nine until five, it's a time to relax, top up the tan and chill out to the tunes. But for some people, chilling out means taking things to a whole new level and serious personal injuries and possibly even death can be the tragic end result.

What I'm talking about is drugs. Despite the valiant efforts of event organisers and the police, drugs still remain a significant problem at some festivals and every year hundreds of people are hospitalised because of the chemicals they've pumped into their bodies.

But it's not just at the festivals themselves that some decide to take drugs and there are often instances of people driving to and from the events whilst under the influence of illegal substances. Not surprisingly, this can result in car crashes which, in turn, regularly lead to personal injuries and no win, no fee car accident compensation claims.

It is for this very reason that festival goers are being targeted this year by road safety charities that want to see the annual deluge of car accidents cut dramatically.

The Department for Transport have decided to get involved in the campaign and are actively promoting their message direct to everybody who drives to Glastonbury in 2007. It is estimated that 42,000 cars will park in the festival's official parking areas and each driver will be provided with information about the dangers of driving whilst on drugs. There will also be information points throughout the festival grounds which will give motorists the facts about how drug use can cause road accidents.

This is not the first time the Department for Transport has used the festivals to broach the subject and similar campaigns were undertaken at V 2006 and also at Global Gathering in the same year. They were reportedly a success but it is unknown if road accidents and car accident compensation claims were reduced because of the promotions.

The police are also making efforts to cut the number of people hurt and killed in drug related car crashes and their approach is a little tougher and probably a bit more effective in taking drug drivers off the road.

Officers will be out in force on the roads near this summer's festival venues and they'll be checking any driver that they think might be under the influence of drugs. Penalties for anybody caught will be severe and offenders will face a minimum one year driving ban, up to six months in prison and the possibility of a £5,000 fine.

A spokesman for Car Accident Advice Line, the car accident compensation claim experts, welcomed the news that this summer's festival goers will be targeted with an anti drug driving campaign and said, "We regularly get calls from people who have been injured by a driver who's been taking drugs.

"It's completely irresponsible, it wrecks lives and there's no absolutely no place on the UK's roads for it."

One person who knows only too well the damage that drug driving can do is a Manchester woman who lost her son in a car accident in the mid-nineties. The 16-year-old was a back seat passenger when the car he was travelling in lost control and overturned on a country lane in Gloucestershire whilst returning from a music festival.

The driver and the two other car passengers walked away unscathed but her son suffered extensive brain injuries in the road accident and passed away in hospital several days later. It was discovered that the driver had traces of ecstasy in his system and he was jailed after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

The mother of the teenager who died spoke exclusively to the car accident compensation specialists at Car Accident Advice Line and said, "You hear about things like this happening to other people but you never think it's going to happen to you.

"My life ended too the day my boy died, and it's all because of one stupid kid who didn't think about the consequences of his actions.

"If we can save the life of someone else's child by making people realise how dangerous it is to drive whilst on drugs, then all the effort and all the Government campaigns will be worth it. I just pray that the message gets through."

So if you're planning to go to Glastonbury this year, or any of the other festivals, make sure you remember it for the right reasons. Enjoy the bands, enjoy the sun and enjoy the camping but, hey, give the drugs a miss, especially if you're planning to get behind the wheel when it's all over.