4'600 test positive in this year's drink-driving campaign

 

A nationwide clampdown on drink-driving during the last two weeks has led to 4,600 of all motorists breathalysed being found to be over the limit.

Traffic police stopped and breathalysed more than 393,000 drivers throughout the country between the 7th and 20th of December.

Although they have been breathalysing more motorists than ever this year, Traffic Police say that the percentage of people caught driving under the influence has been steadily falling over the past few years.

As a result of a similar campaign over the same period in Christmas 2003, a total of 3.97 per cent of all drivers tested were found to be over the limit - around 82,000 motorists.

This figure dropped to 1.84 per cent in 2008, and has fallen further still this year to just 1.17 per cent of the total testing positive for alcohol.

The majority of those testing positive were caught during routine checks and were pulled up at random, but 263 drivers were tested after committing traffic offences, and a further 239 motorists were breathalysed after being involved in an accident.

In Accordance with road traffic laws, driving under the influence of alcohol can carry fines from between 300 and 600 euros and the loss of between four and six licence points.

The Spanish drink-driving limit is one of the lowest in Europe, at just 0.6 milligrams of alcohol per litre of air exhaled - this means that as little as one unit of alcohol could be sufficient to put a driver over the limit.