Drink-driving
The Spanish Parliament has approved several significant changes to road safety laws, that will come into effect in 2022. Spain will require all new types of M2 and M3 vehicle, i.e. mini-buses designed to carry more than eight people, buses and coaches, to be fitted with an alcohol interlock device from next year. That coincides with new EU rules that require an interface for such a device on all new types of road vehicle. France already requires alcohol interlocks on buses and coaches used […]
The United States could be set to leapfrog the European Union on requirements for in-car technology to reduce drink-driving. President Biden’s recently-passed flagship infrastructure package contains a requirement for carmakers to fit monitoring systems to new vehicles to stop intoxicated drivers taking the wheel. The technology to be used is yet to be determined. It is estimated that a third of traffic deaths in the US involve drink-driving. In the EU, the figure is estimated at 25%. In the EU, all new vehicles must […]
ETSC is calling on the European Union to improve the safety of young drivers through changes to driver licensing, among other measures, as new data show young road users, aged 15 to 30, have come to represent a quarter of all road deaths. In a report published today, ETSC says that, in 2019, 5,182 young people were killed in road collisions in the 25 EU countries for which figures are available. Road deaths among young people aged 15 to 30 in the EU represent […]
Policymakers in Spain are considering a new tool in the fight against drink-driving. A law currently under discussion in the Spanish houses of parliament could see alcohol interlocks required on lorries and buses from next year. The European Union agreed in 2019 that all new types of car, van, lorry and bus should be fitted with a standardised interface for the connection of an alcohol interlock from next year. The requirement would be extended to all new vehicles in those categories sold from 2024. […]
The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to back a document setting out the institution’s views on the EU road safety strategy for the next ten years. The Parliament’s report follows the publication of the European Commission’s ten year road safety plan published back in June 2019, and an outline of planned legislative measures announced in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy published in December last year. MEPs have endorsed the overall EU strategy, with the headline targets to cut serious injuries and deaths by 50% by […]
MEPs on the European Parliament’s transport committee have voted through a document setting out the institution’s views on the EU road safety strategy for the next ten years. The Parliament’s ‘own initiative follows the publication of the European Commission’s ten year road safety plan published back in June 2019, and an outline of planned legislative measures announced in the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy published in December last year. Overall strategy MEPs have endorsed the overall EU strategy, with the headline targets to cut serious injuries […]
The French government has recruited Michelin-starred celebrity chef and host of the French version of ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ Philippe Etchebest to front a new drink-driving campaign as bar and restaurant terraces open again across France. The humorous social media campaign and television adverts feature Etchebest telling a diner off for heading to collect his motorcycle after drinking too much at a meal with friends. Find out more about the campaign at: https://www.securite-routiere.gouv.fr/actualites/quand-tient-quelquun-le-retient-1
27 April 2021 – Online Event – Are Medical Fitness to Drive Procedures Fit for Purpose? 10am – 12pm CEST This online event explored to what extent medical fitness to drive procedures in Europe are fit for purpose, in particular in light of the upcoming revision of the EU Driving Licence Directive. Download the agenda here. The event featured presentations on: The Scope of the Revision of the Driving Licence Directive – Claire Depré, European Commission Are Medical Fitness to Drive Procedures Fit for […]
From 1 July, supermarkets, grocery stores, wine sellers and internet shops selling alcoholic drinks are among the enterprises that must also stock and display alcohol breath tests for sale. Shops will be required to display the devices, including chemical-based tests and electronic tests, next to the largest display of alcoholic beverages, or near the till. Websites will be required to display a banner notice on the payment screen, advertising the availability of tests. A failure to comply with the new rules could lead to […]
Across Europe, about 50 people each year per million population are killed in road traffic and about five times as many are seriously injured, consumption of alcohol is high by global standards, and a widely quoted estimate is that about a quarter of the road deaths are related to drink driving. The more than half a century since evidence from the USA made it irrefutable that drink driving increases the number of road deaths has been a time of growing cohesion among many European […]
The UK’s system of preventing drink-driving is no longer adequate, according to a report by ETSC’s member the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), which calls for a comprehensive review. The report, which combines data analysis with in-depth interviews with drink-drivers, found: Drink driving is still one of the biggest causes of road deaths; In the last decade 240 people have been killed each year where a driver was over the limit; Nearly one in five (17%) drink-drive offences is committed by a […]
Safe and Sober Webinar An overview of current and forthcoming alcohol interlock programmes in Europe Online event : Monday 7 December 2020, 15:30 – 16:45 CET The European Transport Safety Council hold a Safe and Sober webinar on 7 December. This online event featured the launch of our new report on alcohol interlock programmes in Europe and national experts from Belgium, Finland, France and Sweden shared their experiences. Driving under the influence of alcohol is one of the four main killers on the road, […]
Alcohol interlock programmes give offenders who would normally lose their driving licence a possibility to continue driving, as long as they are sober. ETSC has long been in favour of alcohol interlocks, in particular as part of rehabilitation programmes. Studies have repeatedly shown that the combination of alcohol interlocks and rehabilitation programmes cut reoffending rates. 13 experts agreed to help ETSC drawing up an inventory of alcohol interlock programmes in Europe. This new report aims at providing a more practical approach showing how each […]
The Spanish government is planning to lower the drink-driving limit for professional and novice drivers to 0.2 g/l – down from 0.3 g/l. The move would bring Spain into line with several other countries – as it is currently the only country with a 0.3 g/l limit for any class of driver. In Europe, novice and professional drivers are often subject to lower limits than other drivers – and many countries have zero tolerance for these groups, or for all drivers. https://etsc.eu/blood-alcohol-content-bac-drink-driving-limits-across-europe/
Changes to road safety laws in Italy could lead to the introduction of alcohol interlock programmes for drink driving offenders, as well as updates to numerous road safety rules. The new legal proposal to introduce alcohol interlocks came from the CNEL, a state body with the power to propose new legislation, and has been presented to the two houses of the Italian parliament, marking the first step on the road to adoption. Meanwhile long-running proposals to update an array of other Italian road safety […]
Collisions caused by drink-drivers who only use alcohol, and drug drivers differ in terms of timing and types of accidents and it is common for drug users to use several intoxicants at the same time according to new research by the Finnish Crash Data Institute (OTI), an ETSC member. The latest OTI substance abuse report looked at fatal collisions investigated in Finland over the period 2014–2018 and drivers who had been driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or both. The investigators found […]
The Italian government has announced an agreement between the Ministry of Interior and the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI) to increase road traffic enforcement by engaging city police in tasks previously assigned to traffic police and national police. The agreement, announced earlier this month, followed the deaths of seven German tourists, killed by a single drink-driver in the ski resort of Lutago outside a night club. 11 others were injured in the crash. Road deaths increased last year in Italy according to the […]
The Irish Road Safety Authority (RSA) says new figures show that drug driving is a major problem on Ireland’s roads. Cannabis is now not far behind alcohol in blood and urine samples examined by the Irish Medical Bureau of Road Safety (MBRS), according to the RSA. According to the new data, 68% of drivers with a positive roadside drug test, between April 2017 and July 2019, had a positive test for cannabis. Cocaine follows closely behind as the main illicit drug detected after cannabis, […]
The Lithuanian Ministry of Transport has launched an alcohol interlock programme as a pathway to a shorter driving ban for high-level drink-driving offenders. From 1 January, convicted drink-drivers who have lost their driving license will, after a set period of time, be able to apply for their license to be reinstated with provision that they only drive a vehicle fitted with an alcohol interlock. “I hope that the introduction of the alcohol interlock system will reduce the number of repeat offences of those who […]
Thon EU Hotel, Rue de la Loi 75, Brussels 11th of December 2019, 9:30 – 13:00 The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) is organising a high-level conference on drink-driving on 11 December 2019 in Brussels. Representatives from the European Commission and the European Parliament will participate as well as experts from EU Member States who will share their experiences in tackling drink-driving in their countries. The conference will also see the launch of the latest ETSC Drink-Driving progress report, which shows individual country performance […]