Traffic Proposes Zero Alcohol Tolerance for Drivers

It has been 40 years since the road safety slogan "If you drink, don't drive" became a mantra. Since then, blood alcohol limits have been progressively reduced, alongside stricter controls, awareness campaigns, and parallel measures such as the points-based driving license and speed cameras.

All these efforts aim to reduce road accidents in Spain, with the latest proposal from the Directorate General of Traffic to lower the blood alcohol limit to 0.1 mg per litre of exhaled air—equivalent to 0.2 grams per litre of blood—or effectively, a zero tolerance level.

This is because consuming any alcoholic beverage would exceed this limit. However, the Director General of Traffic, Pere Navarro, noted that there are cases where alcohol could be generated in the stomach, leading to false positives, such as from certain foods or medications, and they wanted to "allow some leeway, like with speed cameras."

The statements were made before the presentation of a report by the Facthum research group from the University of Valencia, which will provide a scientific basis for the government's arguments to approve the new limit. Regarding the timeline for this to happen, Navarro indicated it would be in the hands of the deputies.

The decision to reduce the limit, currently at 0.5 grams in blood, mirrors the decision of Sweden and Norway, countries considered leaders in road safety, which adopted the 0.2 limit in 1990, a decision that reduced accidents with victims by 12%.

In comparison, Norway reported a rate of 22 deaths per million inhabitants in 2023, the same as Sweden. Spain recorded 36, below the European average of 46. For years, the leading cause of death in accidents has been driver distractions.

According to the Valencian report, reducing the blood alcohol limit "will not be sufficient [to reduce accidents] unless accompanied by complementary measures," such as increased alcohol checks, strengthened road safety education in driving schools, or the generalization of double-test checks.

Adopting a single limit, instead of having one for drivers and another for novices and professionals, will be much simpler to communicate. "Reducing the alcohol limit is a moral commitment to those who lost their lives on the road. It's time to move past the debates of 'one beer yes, but two no' and set a limit that equates to zero, zero," Navarro concluded.

Between 2018 and 2022, there were 467,117 accidents with victims in Spain, of which 18,727 were related to alcohol consumption, an increase of 20.3%. The data shows that driving under the influence increases the number of victims (16%), fatalities (5 percentage points), and the severity of accidents.

Navarro noted that tomorrow the Easter holiday travel would begin, with the agency estimating 15.8 million long-distance journeys, a 2.5% increase from last year. "There were 27 fatalities then, so be wary of distractions and mobile phones."

The DGT will launch a special operation to increase road surveillance until midnight on Monday, April 21, which is a holiday in Catalonia, the Basque Country, La Rioja, the Valencian Community, and Navarre.