444 drivers are detected every day at the wheel after having ingested alcohol or drugs

Between August 8 and 14, the General Directorate of Traffic carried out a new special campaign to monitor and control alcohol and drugs in which the agents of the Traffic Group of the Guardia Civil have controlled a total of 201,938 drivers, of which 3,105 tested positive for alcohol and/or drugs.

Despite the increase in the number of controls carried out compared to the previous year’s campaign (48,000 more), the percentage of drivers who drove under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs remains relatively stable.

This means that 444 drivers were detected each day behind the wheel after having consumed alcohol and/or drugs, most of them (83.6%) after a preventive control and the rest due to infractions, incidents or due to symptoms.

In the case of alcohol, professional drivers, motorcyclists and novice drivers have represented 3.9% of the positives in this campaign, with 18, 35 and 48 cases respectively.

In general terms, of the 200,731 breathalyser tests carried out, 2,591 were positive and, of these, proceedings have been opened against 262 drivers and they have been brought to justice, either for driving with a rate higher than 0.60mg/l in air, or for refusing to take the test.

Regarding drugs, of the 514 drivers who tested positive for some substance, as usual, the majority did so for cannabis (69%), followed by those who did so for cocaine (42%), amphetamines and methamphetamines (31 %) and opioids (6%). In addition, 12 drivers were brought to justice for driving under the influence of psychotropic substances or for refusing to take a drug test.

Importance of these campaigns

But these campaigns not only serve to detect those who break the law, but also to alert and raise awareness of all those drivers who, although not being reported for not exceeding the maximum allowed rate, do get behind the wheel of a vehicle having ingested alcohol.

On this occasion, in the controls carried out for this campaign, more than 4,750 drivers were detected with rates below the maximum limit allowed. Of these, 4,518 were detected in preventive controls: 184 due to an infraction, 41 after an incident and 7 due to symptoms.