Seven per cent of drivers admitted to driving once a month after taking drugs, according to a new survey from Brake, the road safety charity. The survey _ which was also contributed to by insurers, Direct Line _ found that one in 12 people believed they'd been a passenger in a car driven by someone who'd taken drugs within the last year. One in six respondents to the survey (16 per cent) said that they would get in a car with a drug-driver. The release of the figures comes a year after new laws on drug-driving were introduced alongside tests to aid police officers in catching those driving illegally. Since the law was brought in, there has been a six-fold increase in the number of convictions for drug driving in the UK, with some individual forces seeing their arrest rates rise by as much as 800 per cent. Official road safety figures show that 47 road deaths and 197 serious injuries in 2014 were caused by a driver impaired by drugs: this was an increase on the 21 deaths and the 181 serious injuries that occurred in 2013. Some estimates have suggested that as many as 200 people each year are killed by drug drivers on Britain's roads. Alice Bailey, the campaigns advisor for Brake, said: 'The hundreds of extra convictions over the last 12 months prove just how overdue this law change was. Different drugs have different effects, some slowing reaction times, others making drivers over confident and more likely to take risks, but they all have the potential to make drivers a danger to themselves and all other road users. "The Government must make sure the police have the necessary resources to carry out these tests and keep catching dangerous drug drivers who risk killing themselves or someone else.î Rob Miles, director of car insurance for Direct Line, said: 'The significant increase in drug-driving convictions since the change in the law last year should serve as a serious deterrent to those considering getting behind the wheel after taking drugs. This is testament to how, when road safety issues are given due prominence, positive change can be achieved.î