The Netherlands Transport Research Centre (AVV) has been yearly carrying out research into drink driving since 1999. The results presented in this report compare 2002 and 2003. To get a representative picture of drink driving for the Netherlands, each police district has to do at least two breath tests. The report is based on a total of 57 police operations and 22,745 motorists. All police districts, except Rotterdam-Rijnmond, have cooperated in at least one of the alcohol tests. The alcohol tests include a random sample of motorists driving on the nights of Friday to Saturday and Saturday to Sunday between 22.00 h and 04.00 h. A person is in breach of the law when the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit is above 0.5 promille. The results showed a reduction in the percentage of legal limit offenders from 4.3% in 2002 to 3.9% in 2003. The explanation for this decrease is a combination of enforcement and publicity. In addition to the national results, alcohol consumption has also been examined at a more detailed level. Some of the results are as follows: (1) The West Netherlands had the highest percentage of offenders in 2003, namely 4.4%. In 2002, the South Netherlands was the highest with 5.1%; (2) Approximately 85% of all offenders were male, and most male offenders belonged to the 25-34 age category. A strong decrease in the percentage of male offenders aged 18-24 years took place in 2003, whereas the female percentage in the same age category increased. The remaining age classes all showed a decrease; (3) There were more offenders on Friday night than on Saturday night. The decrease in the number of offenders can entirely be attributed to Saturday; and (4) the highest percentage of offenders (55%) had drunk alcohol in catering establishments. In 2003, a striking increase could be seen in the category 'sport canteens or club houses' (from 6% to 8%) compared to the other categories.
Samenvatting