Driving whilst under the influence of alcohol contributes annually to at least 10,000 deaths on EU roads. Police enforcement with increased drink driving checks is an effective tool to reduce this number. The European Commission’s cost-benefit analysis found that with increased enforcement of drink driving, 3,900 deaths could be prevented in the EU 15 alone (ICF 2003). In the EU as a whole, around 2-3% of journeys are associated with an illegal Blood Alcohol Limit (BAC), resulting in 30-40% of driver deaths (ESCAPE 2003, ETSC 2003). A minor reduction of driving under the influence of alcohol would have a large effect on collision occurrence. One of the key measures to combating drink driving is the implementation of Police enforcement measures. Increasing drivers’ perception of the risk of being detected for excess alcohol is a very important element in any package of measures to reduce alcohol related crashes. Enforcement procedures differ throughout the Union as does the chance of being breathalysed. (Author/publisher)
Abstract