Hundreds of people die and are seriously injured each year in road accidents where alcohol plays a significant role. Various experts analyse this problem: the risks it poses to driving, the measures that can be taken, including an upcoming reduction in the legal alcohol limit, and why, even today, some drivers insist on getting behind the wheel after drinking.
Alcohol causes a wide range of symptoms in our bodies that are incompatible with safe driving. These effects can also vary and be exacerbated by a person’s weight, sex, age, and health, how and how much is consumed, the type of alcoholic beverage, and its combination with medications and other drugs.
“Alcohol is a psychoactive substance and alters psychomotor and perceptual functions, the abilities necessary for driving: coordination, attention, vision, behaviour, decision-making… As the amount of alcohol in the body increases, these effects persist and intensify. Its potency can vary, but it always has an impact,” explains Julio Pérez, medical advisor at the National Road Safety Observatory of the General Directorate of Traffic.
In Spain, an increase in the number of accidents with alcohol-related fatalities (at least one driver tested positive) has been detected over the last five years. According to data from the DGT (Directorate-General for Traffic), 4,283 accidents involving alcohol were recorded in 2022 (20% more than in 2018), with 312 deaths (up 5%) and 518 serious injuries (up 10%). “The reasons for this increase may be varied. The desire to go out after the pandemic, more mental health problems such as stress or depression, laxity in strict compliance with the rules… In addition, many “frequent users” are no longer stopped at checkpoints because more and more are receiving alerts of their location through social media. And the problem is increasingly affecting drivers between 40 and 50 years old. Incidentally, the same worrying trend is observed with other drugs of abuse, with anti-anxiety medications, etc.,” analyses Jesús Monclús, director of the Prevention and Road Safety Department at the Mapfre Foundation.
For its part, reports from the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences (INTCF) also show, in the results of their autopsies, a significant increase in the presence of this substance in road accidents over the last six years: one in three (33%) drivers killed in road accidents in 2023 had alcohol in their system; in 2018, it was one in four (26%). Regarding pedestrian deaths, the INTCF reveals that, in 2023, 29% tested positive, almost double the 2018 rate (16%).
The DGT is currently considering lowering the maximum blood alcohol level for drivers.
“With this reduction in the maximum legal blood alcohol level, we hope to reduce the percentage of drivers who get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol, and thus the associated accidents. The impact is expected not only in the 0.2-0.5 g/l limit, but also at higher levels. In Sweden and Norway, two benchmark countries, a significant reduction in accidents was observed after implementing the 0.2 g/l limit,” says Álvaro Gómez, director of the DGT’s National Road Safety Observatory. He adds that this measure “will be complemented by the implementation of the alcohol lock on buses, increased inspections, and a project targeting repeat offenders.”
“If you drink, don’t drive”.
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