FOI 490/25

REQUEST

Please provide the following information relating to the use of nitrous oxide (N₂O) while driving:

1. The number of road traffic collisions recorded in the past three years (2022, 2023, 2024) where nitrous oxide was listed as a suspected factor.
2. The number of individuals arrested or charged under Section 5 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (Driving or Being in Charge of a Motor Vehicle with Excess Alcohol or Drugs) where nitrous oxide was recorded as the substance involved.
3. The number of individuals arrested or charged under Section 2 (Dangerous Driving) and Section 3 (Careless or Inconsiderate Driving) of the Road Traffic Act 1988, where nitrous oxide was suspected or confirmed as a contributing factor.
4. Whether your force has conducted any specific roadside operations or drug-driving tests targeting nitrous oxide use while driving.
5. Whether nitrous oxide is included in standard drug impairment testing for drivers. If not, has there been any internal discussion or policy review about adding it?

If possible, please provide the data broken down by year.

RESPONSE

Your request for information has now been considered and I am not obliged to supply the information you have requested.       

In relation to your request, the following exemption applies:

Section 12 – Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit.

At South Wales Police we monitor and collate statistical data on crimes, incidents and other data relevant to our daily business. The predominant purpose of this is to identifying pattern and trends, so resource allocation and policies can be managed to ensure public safety. Unfortunately, the data you have requested is not routinely collated in the format that would easily answer your query.

In relation to question one, there were 18,000 RTC (Road Traffic Collisions) recorded on our crime and incident recording system from 2022-2024. To comply with your request we would need to manually interrogate each occurrence to establish if nitrous oxide was recorded as a contributing factor.

Whilst I cannot quantify exactly how long this would take it would most certainly exceed the 18 hours stipulated by the regulations.

It is estimated that the cost of providing you with the information is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the "appropriate level" as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.

In the case of the police service, the appropriate limit is £450 which has been calculated to equate to a total of 18 hours of work.

If any part of the request exceeds the fees limit then Section 12 applies to the whole request.

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a refusal notice.

Excess cost removes the forces obligation under the Freedom of Information Act, however under Section 16 – Duty to provide advice and assistance, an authority is required to offer an applicant the opportunity to redefine their request within the cost limit. If you were to remove question one, we may be able to assist you with your request.