Between 19 and 25 August, the Directorate General of Traffic carried out a special alcohol and drug monitoring and control campaign in which officers of the Guardia Civil Traffic Group checked a total of 225,946 drivers (14,000 more than in last year’s campaign), of whom 3,801 tested positive for alcohol and/or drugs.

This means that 543 drivers were detected each day at the wheel after having consumed alcohol and/or drugs, most of them (89.3%) after a preventive control and the rest for infractions, accidents or because they showed symptoms.

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More than 500 drivers are detected every day after having consumed alcohol or other drugs

It should be remembered that preventive controls are an essential tool for detecting drivers who get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol or other drugs, endangering not only their safety but also that of other road users.

Alcohol
Concerning alcohol tests, 221,752 tests were carried out during the seven days and 2,156 drivers tested positive. Of these, 1,930 were detected in preventive controls, 108 after having committed an offence, another 107 for being involved in an accident and 11 more for showing obvious symptoms of having consumed this substance.

Of the 2,156 drivers who tested positive, 221 were prosecuted for exceeding 0.60 mg/l in exhaled air and were subsequently transferred to the judicial authorities. In addition, a further 12 drivers have been prosecuted and brought before the courts for refusing to take breathalyser tests.

Other drugs
About drugs, of the 4,194 drug tests carried out on drivers, 1,645 were positive for indicative tests, of which 1,466 were detected in preventive controls, 104 after having committed an offence and 75 for being involved in an accident.

Of the 1,645 drivers who tested positive for drugs, 6 of them were prosecuted for driving under the influence of toxic drugs, narcotics or psychotropic substances.

As usual, the most commonly used drugs were cannabis (1,203 cases), cocaine (565 cases) and amphetamines (233 cases).

According to the Road Safety Prosecutor’s Office in its annual report, in 2023, 50,071 sentences were handed down for driving with excess alcohol (over 0.60mg/l in air or 1.2 gr/l in blood) or under the influence of drugs.

Importance of these campaigns
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 they are not reported for not exceeding the maximum permitted limit, do get behind the wheel of a vehicle having drunk alcohol.

On this occasion, in the controls carried out, 4,570 drivers were detected with rates below the maximum permitted limit. Of these, 4,216 were detected during preventive checks, 303 as a result of an offence, 49 after an accident and 2 as a result of symptoms.

As the slogan of this summer’s awareness campaign says, ‘The road doesn’t care how much you’ve had to drink. Only zero has zero consequences’. Alcohol continues to be the second most common factor in fatal accidents, accounting for 26% of fatalities.

Collaboration of regional and local police
As usual in the campaigns carried out by the DGT, the collaboration of the local and regional police has been very important, as alcohol and drug controls have been carried out on both interurban and urban roads. The data from these police forces are still being processed and will have to be added to those presented in this note.

Although the campaign has ended, Guardia Civil traffic officers will continue to carry out alcohol and drug checks on drivers at any time of the day and on any road to discourage them from driving.