24 September 2014 – Drink Driving: Working Towards Zero Tolerance, Madrid

Madrid, 24 September 2014

ETSC and the Spanish Confederation of Driving Schools (CNAE) organised a national event on “Drink Driving: Working Towards Zero Tolerance” in Madrid. The event gathered around 150 international and local experts in the road safety field to share data and best practice on reducing drink driving in the European Union and Spain.

Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director of ETSC said: “Spain has made enormous progress in the reduction of road deaths since 2001. However, when looking at drink driving figures the annual reduction of deaths is going at a slower pace. Better enforcement, rehabilitation programmes for recidivist and first time high-level offenders and the use of alcohol interlocks also in commercial transport can be effective measures in all EU countries to reduce the number of road deaths caused by alcohol.”

José Miguel Baez, President of CNAE, highlighted the importance of better harmonisation of legislation within the EU, namely having a common BAC limit in all 28 Member States.

Espen Rindedal from the Road Safety Unit at DG MOVE of the European Commission shared figures showing that drink driving still accounts for at least 25% of road deaths in Europe. He also presented the latest EU policies on drink driving and the outcomes of the recently-published EC study on alcohol interlocks.

Bartolomé Vargas, Public Attorney at the Supreme Court of Justice of Spain called on the EU to include road safety as a compulsory subject in schools and encourage driving schools, institutions and industry to work together to improve education and behaviour on drink driving.

Industry spokesman, Jacobo Olalla, Director General of Cerveceros de España, said: “Our message is always never drink and drive, zero tolerance must be applied to all drivers. We know that this message is well understood by the population, also thanks to our drink driving campaign on Zero Alcohol beer (En la carretera, cerveza SIN)”. Filippo Terzaghi of Assobirra, Italy gave the latest figures on alcohol consumption in Italy, warning that younger Italians are now drinking more despite an overall trend of lower alcohol consumption in Italy. Mr Terzaghi also pointed out that even the most successful drink driving campaigns must be supported by high levels of police enforcement.

Download the agenda in English and Spanish.

Presentations

Antonio Avenoso, ETSC
Juan Carlos Luque, DGT
Jacobo Olalla, Cerveceros de España
Filippo Terzaghi, Assobirra
Espen Rindedal, European Commission

The SMART project receives financial support from The Brewers of Europe.