Roadside testing for drink and drug use by drivers has shown a cause for concern in Europe. The recent ROADPOL Alcohol & Drugs Marathon revealed a worrying doubling of the rate of driving under the influence (DUI). The marathon was conducted during the June ROADPOL Alcohol & Drugs operation and featured broad 24-hour checks along the roads of 13 member countries in a bid to address road safety.
According to the reports more than 262,000 drivers were checked throughout Europe during the day and night of the operation. Of these 12,284 drivers were under the influence of alcohol and 399 under the influence of drugs. The violation rate was thus 4.84%, double that from the same operation a year ago (2,44%). 22 drivers were under the influence of alcohol and drugs. In 1,210 cases the driver’s license was seized, or a procedure was started to revoke the driver’s license.
The enforcement marathon was carried out against the backdrop of the larger week-long Alcohol & Drug Operation run from 14-20 June. According to the reports of participating countries more than 495,000 drivers were checked throughout Europe during this operation. Of these 7,812 drivers were under the influence of alcohol and 1,920 under the influence of drugs. 173 drivers were under the influence of alcohol and drugs. It is not possible to indicate in which country the violation percentage was the highest, because the way of checking differs too much. In 2,186 cases the driver’s license was seized.
Although the legislation in European countries differs slightly, driving under the influence is punishable in all of them countries. Some countries have a 0 limit (zero tolerance), while in other countries a low content of breath alcohol level is still allowed.
“And that is not without reason. It has been scientifically proven that driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs significantly increases the chance of being involved in a collision. And this is unfortunately proved in our daily policing practice. In many collisions in which the police arrive at the scene, it appears that a driver of a vehicle was driving under the influence”, commented ROADPOL Operation Working Group Secretary Henk Jansen of the Police of the Netherlands.
According to statistics the use of alcohol and/or drugs before or while driving a vehicle leads to a large number of collisions with other road users or fixed objects every year. The number of road users who are injured or killed in these collisions is also high. “In particular, drivers of the 18-25 “young driver” age risk group are often unaware of the dangers of drug driving. They often do not consider the fact that even small amounts of narcotics make drivers unfit to drive. It is also underestimated that driving ability can be impaired even if drugs were consumed days ago”, Jansen commented. According to Jansen, preventing and combating DUIs can reduce the number of collisions and also the number of serious injuries and deaths in traffic.
