As in 1995 and 1998, SWOV in 2003, together with the police, measured the alcohol use of motorists in West-Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. This took place during Friday and Saturday nights between 22.00 h. and 4.00 h. The alcohol use of a random sample of motorists was registered and subdivided by season (summer and autumn), day, time of day, and gender and age of the drivers. In addition, the locations where the police had stopped them and where they had drunk alcohol were registered, as well as the country they came from. Finally, the 2003 level of police enforcement was estimated. The purpose of the measurements is to determine the effects of the 'Sustainably Safe West-Zeeuws-Vlaanderen' project on motorists' alcohol use. Between 1995 and 1998, the share of motorists with a blood alcohol content (BAC) above the legal limit of 0.5 promille in West-Zeeuws-Vlaanderen increased from 4.3% to 5.9%. In 2003, however, this decreased to 3.8%. In the rest of the province of Zeeland and the Netherlands this share had decreased by the same amount between 1995 and 2003, but without the increase in between. The most important cause of the decline in alcohol use in West-Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and in the Netherlands as a whole, is probably the increased level of police enforcement that, in turn, is a result of the implementation of regional traffic enforcement plans and the formation of regional traffic enforcement teams. As in previous years, the majority of drink drivers (65%) in West-Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in 2003 came from a pub/bar etc. More than half of the apprehended suspects (58%) lived in Belgium.
Samenvatting