Experts have warned of a 'relevant' trend of teenagers who inhale nitrogen oxide – or 'hippy crack' – before they find out the wheel, with the reckless act that led to several deaths in recent years.
Last December 19-year-old Thomas Johnson was imprisoned for nine years after he caused the death of three of his friends when he poured a tree at 100 MPH under the influence of 'laughing gas'.
The families of Daniel Hancock, 18, Elliot Pullen, 17, and Ethan Goddard, 18, who were all killed in the crash, have since called for stricter limitations on new drivers.
But this is just one of the many tragic incidents where lives have been lost after they have entered the wheel under the influence of balloons – or in many cases, inhaled them while driving.
An investigation heard this week that a young driver in Halifax, Yorkshire, died after crashing against a oncoming vehicle while he was high on cocaine and laughing gas.
Felix Jackson, 19, died tragically, while his girlfriend and two friends were injured, just like two people in the BMW with whom he was collide.
Last weekend a video of a car accident at Limehouse link tunnel Viral, with suspicions it was to do with drugs driving on nitrogen oxide, although this was not confirmed by civil servants.
Both police services and campaigners have warned of the 'worrying' trend in young people and say that the act is 'more dangerous' than drinking in some respects.
Just before a fatal accident in 2023, driver Thomas Johnson and front passenger were also shown with balloons in their mouths on an automatic license plate recognition (ANPR) photo released by Thames Valley Police
Johnson now serves nine years after the judge had told him that his facial spliberation as a result of the crash will be a 'permanent memory' for himself and others that he killed his friends
A video that went viral on social media showed a car accident at Limehouse Link tunnel last Sunday, in which people claimed that the driver had laughed in gas before the accident
The video showed the extensive damage to both the car and the side of the tunnel
John Scruby, a former police traffic officer and trustee of Campaign Against Drink Driving (CAAD), said MailOnline: 'Nitrogen oxide gives a short high, but it is a considerable high and it is just crazy.
'The consequences are unthinkable.
'When people have inhaled, they lose all inhibitions, all the feeling of spatial consciousness and all the feeling of speed. You actually have no idea what you are doing.
'It's as bad as, probably worse than, driving under the influence of alcohol.
“With alcohol, the effects can be slower and gradual, but with nitrogen oxide the effect is much worse than and much faster than when drinking drinks.”
Mr. Scrub said that former colleagues at the South Yorkshire police say that the use of nitrogen oxide has become a 'very worrying trend' while driving.
He said: 'It has now become such a common medicine. It is just like the new drink.
'You see throwing them away everywhere around parking garages.
'It's a cheap way to get high. But the consequences when driving are unthinkable.
'And the problem is that it is hardly possible to trace, so the police have bound their hands very much.
'How do you prove that someone is under the influence if you can't trace it? It feels like a no-win situation around. '
The worries were also repeated by the police in Marcham, Oxfordshire, where the fatal crash that led to the death of teenagers Hancock, Pullen and Goddard happened.
Daniel Hancock (left) and Ethan Goddard (right), both 18, died in the crash on June 23, 2023
Elliot Pullen, 17, also died at the car accident on the road in the village of Oxfordshire of Marcham
Images filmed on a mobile phone in the car moments before a fatal crash in Marcham, Oxfordshire, the group laughed and stitched Oxide buses forward forward
A bus with nitrogen oxide found on the scene of the crash in June 2023
Nitrogen oxide, which was legal to possess at the time of the crash in 2023, but not to drive under the influence of, has since been categorized as a class C media line, but this has not stopped deadly accidents.
Sergeant Matt Cadmore, who was the first officer on site in Marcham, told the hearing last year: 'It seems to be a bit of a trend for young people to take smiling gas.
'About 20 years ago it seemed to be alcohol, but people now tend to use drugs and alcohol and are affected. We arrest many people after crashes who test positive for drugs.
'The fact that they were so young increased this and it was completely prevented. If they were to drive within the speed limit and were not distracted, they would all be home now.
“There is a trend with young people they think they will not be affected.”
Nitrogen oxide of items such as whipping creams are often used by young people to become high.
Sergeant Cadmore also called for stricter limitations in the purchase of KANDERS, suggesting that more checks can be performed and for sellers to 'refuse' people if they do not think it is for a legitimate use.
Images of mobile phones from the car before the fatal crash on June 23, 2023, let the boys laugh and through nitreus oxide buses forward, while Johnson inhaled a balloon.
In the judge's condemnation, Johnson was warned that he will be 'forever defined 'by the incident.
The judge also told him that his facial figure as a result of the crash on the A415 will be a 'permanent memory' for himself and others that he killed his friends.
Annette Dixon, 70, was mowed and killed by Washe Fowatelo who drove at excessive speed after breathing in nitrogen oxide
Last month, in another fatal collision involving laughing gas, was guilty was guilty by a notification of section 76 – for causing death by dangerous driving on 26 August 2023, and two other charges with regard to not offering a blood sample and being concerned in the delivery of cocaine.
The 24-year-old drove with a Mercedes C220 with excessive speed after breathing nitrogen oxide when he hit Annette Dixon, 70, after she got out of a bus in Edinburgh.
He had boarded the opposite lane, mounted on a sidewalk and grass racer on the road when he hit the pensioner.
Later he refused to give a blood sample for testing and claimed that it was against his religion, it heard High Court in Edinburgh.
Speaking with MailOnline about the ease with which laughing gas can be purchased, Mr. Scrub said: 'The extra problem is that it is so easy to buy.
'People can buy it online for almost cookies.
'Nitrogen oxide is present in things like Squirty creams. That is how easy it is to get it.
'But how do you prove that someone doesn't buy it alone to do some bins?
“It's very difficult.
“The only solution is education.”
In June last year, a 22-year-old woman was imprisoned for two years after she used a mobile phone to film herself inhaling laughing gas from a balloon in her moving car seconds before causing a horror crash.
Georgia Hunter uses a mobile phone to film herself that inhales laughing gas from a balloon in her moving car
Hunter, 22, outside of Newcastle Court after she had filmed herself, inhale the laughing gas from a balloon in her moving car, seconds before she crashed
Georgia Hunter's terrified passenger asked her to stop and wanted to come out before he leaned a broken skull, spine, eye cooker, breastbone, bleeding on the brain and broken teeth in the Late Night Smash on a dark road.
The 17-year-old passenger for the front seat was left behind with a broken pelvis, damage to her hip nerve and fears that her injuries can prevent her in the future.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that Hunter was within the limit of alcohol despite drinking prosecco and beer that night – but had a high level of a breakdown product of cocaine in her system that brought her seven times the legal amount.
During the conviction, the judge said: 'It is one of the worst non-fatal dangerous driving issues that I have seen. It was an accident that happened that waited to happen.
“The description of a passenger is that you drive irregularly, too fast on an unlit, narrow road, weaving and inhaling of balloons laughing gas and we know that that is true because I have seen you, you have filmed it on your mobile phone.”
In another shocking case, a reckless driver filmed himself inhaling laughing gas at 90 km / h before three of his friends died in a horror crash.
Shane Loughlin filmed herself inhausting laughing gas on 90 km / h before three of his friends died in a horror crash
Shane Loughlin did not rode the car at the time of the crash at St. Mellons, Cardiff, but had driven only a few hours earlier in the same car while he inhaled laughing gas.
The 33-year-old had reduced his sentence last year on appeal by four months.
A video that was taken on his mobile let him swing between the lanes while holding his phone in one hand and a balloon in the other.
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (Wyfrs) has also warned about the dangers of driving on laughing gas in recent years and say that the gas is 'becoming increasingly popular among young people'.
“Nitrogen oxide influences people physically and mentally,” says Craig Kettlewell, Bradford District Watch manager for Wyfrs.
'It can cause serious nausea, dizziness and light headness, making driving dangerous.
'This is a very big problem for us in Bradford and we have taken people from cars where nitrogen oxide has been present.
'The gas limits the brain of oxygen, gives them a small high and therefore becomes addictive. They take it by filling a balloon with the gas and breathing in – we spoke with some young people who inhale 30 balloons a day. The problem is that there is no road test and it leaves someone very quickly a system. '
