Europe’s drink drive crackdown

A series of controls to enforce drink driving and drug driving regulations across Europe saw police conduct more than 900,000 breath tests in a seven-day period, of which nearly 18,000 were positive. Motorists were also checked for drugs in the operation, organised by the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL), between 4 and 10 June. In total, 928,863 drivers were controlled. There were 17,970 alcohol offences and 2,773 drug offences detected.
August 22, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A series of controls to enforce drink driving and drug driving regulations across Europe saw police conduct more than 900,000 breath tests in a seven-day period, of which nearly 18,000 were positive. Motorists were also checked for drugs in the operation, organised by the European Traffic Police Network (4753 TISPOL), between 4 and 10 June. In total, 928,863 drivers were controlled. There were 17,970 alcohol offences and 2,773 drug offences detected.

In addition, during the operation, police officers detected a total of 3,369 other crimes, including 277 drug detections, 47 cases of human trafficking and 27 firearms offences.

“Drug-driving and drink-driving remain significant contributory factors in road deaths,” said TISPOL president Pasi Kemppainen. “We have made progress in helping make more and more road users aware of the dangers of driving after taking drugs or alcohol, or both.

Meanwhile, TISPOL’s pan-European speed enforcement operation continues throughout this week. The operation, which involves both static speed detection and roadside officer intervention, forms a key part of the organisation’s strategy designed to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on Europe’s roads.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • European police take action on truck and bus safety
    April 14, 2015
    Two recent operations handled by pan-European police body TISPOL have helped tackle truck and bus safety. The action taken against rogue trucking firms led to more than 4,000 immediate vehicle prohibitions. This followed checks on nearly 184,908 trucks across 29 countries and resulted in police handing out charges for a total of 48,386 separate offences. Those included 187 drivers being charged for alcohol and drug offences, 4,691 offences of exceeding the speed limit, 10,306 instances of drivers exceeding
    Read More
  • Pan-European speeding enforcement yields success
    September 25, 2013
    A recent Pan-European police operation to enforce laws on speeding has yielded major success. Over 720,000 drivers were detected breaking speed limits in the operation, which was co-orcinated by the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL) in 28 countries. Of the 728,268 detections, 274,355 were made directly by police officers and 453,913 came from automatic speed detectors. Stopping drivers for speeding offences also provides police officers with the opportunity to make other safety and security checks. D
    Read More
  • Road safety checks for Europe
    December 2, 2014
    From Monday 8th December a pan-European police road safety operation will commence. The aim is to raise awareness of the dangers of drink-driving and drug driving. The operation will involve officers conducting alcohol and drug checks at any time of the day and night. The message from pan-European police body TISPOL is simple: the ability to drive safely is impaired by even a small amount of alcohol. Do not drink and drive. Drivers can expect highly visible and widespread enforcement of alcohol and drug law
    Read More
  • Pan-European seatbelt enforcement yields results
    May 7, 2013
    Europe’s cross-border police body TISPOL reports positive results from the recent pan-European seatbelt enforcement drive. The data shows that over 100,000 drivers and passengers were detected for not wearing seatbelts. A total of 24 countries took part in the operation, which was co-ordinated by TISPOL. Of the final total of 104,838 offences, 3,245 related to children not wearing seatbelts or other safety restraints. The remaining 101,593 offences related to adult vehicle occupants. Commenting on the resul
    Read More

Highlighted Content