Skip to main content

Police action reveals drink driving issue in Europe

Pan-European moves to tackle drink driving reveal that many still take to the wheel while over the limit for alcohol. The results from week-long operation to address drink driving run in June show that there were 16,497 alcohol offences from 1,104,879 breath tests in 26 countries. One in 66 drivers tested was over the limit in this year’s operation, compared with one in 63 last year and one in 59 in 2013. In addition, 2,752 drug offences were recorded, while over 2,516 other crimes were also detected during
July 27, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Pan-European moves to tackle drink driving reveal that many still take to the wheel while over the limit for alcohol. The results from week-long operation to address drink driving run in June show that there were 16,497 alcohol offences from 1,104,879 breath tests in 26 countries. One in 66 drivers tested was over the limit in this year’s operation, compared with one in 63 last year and one in 59 in 2013. In addition, 2,752 drug offences were recorded, while over 2,516 other crimes were also detected during alcohol tests. 4753 TISPOL drink-drive enforcement operation saw 1,104,879 roadside breath tests being carried out.

TISPOL President Aidan Reid said, “These figures show that there are still people who think it’s acceptable to drink and drive. “Our message is clear. Don’t do it. Officers across Europe will continue to target drink-drivers all year round, so if you choose to take a risk by driving after drinking alcohol, then we will find you and bring you to justice because we will not tolerate the risk you pose to yourself and to other innocent road users who may be in your way.”

Like-for-like figures from 2014 show 18,391 offences from 1,168,631 breath tests and for 2013 the figures show 14,557 offences from 869,473 breath tests. Stopping drivers to check for alcohol and drug offences also provides police officers with the opportunity to make other appropriate safety and security checks. For example, during the week of this operation, officers also detected and dealt with offences connected with illegal immigration and human trafficking (116), drug-related crimes (598), firearms crimes (49), property crimes (136), wanted persons (181), and 1,436 other crimes.

Research shows that those involved in criminal activity are more likely to carry out driving offences.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • European Police enforcement actions target offenders
    April 8, 2014
    Police enforcement actions in Europe against trucks and buses have helped boost road safety and arrest criminals. One week long operation resulted in 4,400 trucks being removed from the road network due to dangerous defects. The action followed checks of more than 137,000 trucks across 26 countries and was co-ordinated by TISPOL, the European Traffic Police Network. The operation saw police carrying out a wide range of safety inspections that focused on speeding, alcohol, drugs, seatbelt use, tachograph inf
  • Safety gains on Europe’s roads with lower KSI rates
    February 19, 2014
    Better road safety is helping to cut KSI rates right across the EC - Mike Woof writes Road safety continues to improve in Europe, with official statistics for 2012 showing a drop in fatalities of 2,661 compared with the figures for 2011. The latest data from Pan-European police body TISPOL shows an encouraging trend towards better road safety. This highlights safety improvements right across the EU. In 2012, a total of 27,700 people were killed in road crashes in the European Union’s 27 member states, eq
  • 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
  • Europe’s drink drive crackdown
    August 22, 2012
    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.