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From think Spain.com
STARTING from Sunday, police will be out in force on Spain's roads breathalysing drivers to test for drug and alcohol consumption.
They have pledged a zero-tolerance approach to offenders, saying 45 per cent of drivers who were killed in accidents last year tested positive for substance abuse or drink.
Drugs are behind one in four road deaths in Spain, and the chances of having an accident following consumption rise by between two and seven times.
A saliva test will determine whether the driver has recently consumed drugs, but he or she will not be charged until a laboratory test confirms this.
The driver may request a further test in a hospital if he or she does not agree with the results, and this will be carried out immediately.
Severity of sanctions will depend upon to what extent the motorist's senses were impaired by the substance he or she had consumed.
The minimum punishment for either drugs or alcohol consumption is a 500-euro fine and six points deducted from the offender's licence.
Spain is said to be the country with one of the highest levels of cannabis and cocaine consumption, according to the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences (INTCF).
A total of 19.4 motorists drive after consuming drugs, and three per cent do so following ingestion of an explosive combination of drugs and alcohol.
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Several years ago I stopped having more than one can of beer and driving. More than ONE CAN can put one over the Spanish limit.
The problem with laws on driving is that no matter how well they are framed they can never achieve a perfect result. My ex-wife never drank but was probably the worst driver I ever knew, although she never had an accident in about 10 years driving. She did believe in God though !!!!
I was present many years ago when the police were testing breathalysers. They took two police officers same age, weight, general fitness etc., one was a drinker the other teetotal, and gave them the same to drink. The drinker helped the doctor take a blood sample from the teetotaller who was lying on the floor. The results showed the drinker had more alcohol in his blood than the other guy.
I am not suggesting it is safer to drink and drive but a person who has had a drink sometimes might be a better driver even then, than another person, who is legally permitted to drive.
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The Guardia were out early the other Sunday morning breath testing. Those who had a "skinfull" the night before were in for a bit of a shock.
Mark
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You need to carry your own breathalyser kits for driving in France from 1st July this year, of course they are assuming that when stopped you will be sober enough to find them amongst the spare bulbs,glasses and hi vis jackets and then acutally blow into it.
Seriously though I think this law will be introduced in Spain before long, we were stopped the other day and the guardia were just throwing kits through car windows - no supervision on how they should be used.
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" I am not suggesting it is safer to drink and drive but a person who has had a drink sometimes might be a better driver even then, than another person, who is legally permitted to drive." Quoted by Johnzx!!!
Your entire post sounds like a drunken rambling of nonsense!!, The fact is drink driving kills, end of. Yes there are good drivers , bad drivers but when youre drunk and driving, the chance of being a good driver rapidly decreases.
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Your entire post sounds like a drunken rambling of nonsense
Oso what a really uniformed, stupid comment in reply to an interesting and informative post by johnz who clearly said he does not support the idea of drinking and driving.
Oso, (Blue Bear) I do hope you are a man but unfortunately, embarrassingly , with a name like that, I get the feeling you are not.
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I am so glad the police are stopping cars on the road in Spain for drink driving about time.
I have recently had a bump in my car in Spain while i was at the traffic lights as they where on stop.
The man drove into the back of me he was about 60 yrs of age at about 2.30 in the afternoon.
Was he drunk not sure.
Did he need glasses must off.
Did he stop no.
There are to many drivers in Spain not insured.
They are the worst drivers i have ever come across.
They don't even care if they kill you.
The police should do more checks to make sure they are insured.
If you have not been drinking and you are insured you have no problems when being stopped it only takes 10 minutes for a check.
Glad the police are doing more check now i will feel safer next time out when driving in Spain.
I just don't know why every one in Spain drive so fast and mad.
Irene
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I'd decided to not reply to EOS posts -- which demonstrably only concern the UK first & foremost, and Spain still in middle ages -- but drink driving concerns most of us everywhere. OK, in the UK 1 in every 5 road deaths are alcohol related (and even 1 death is unacceptable) but the "limit" -- very different throughout Europe -- is 0.5mg/ml in Spain (with exceptions). So if we continue with "the UK is best" EOS policy, at 05mg/ml you're technically drunk in Spain but maybe not in UK (at 0.8mg/ml).so are we saying where you're hit (or worse) geographically is the deciding factor on responsibility? Law now requires I carry a breathalyser kit in my car, which I agree with not because I don't know when I've drunk too much but having it in the car makes me more conscient of "Have I?". More than this, I have awful problems with the misinformation diffused on EOS e.g. on hypothetical Euro collapse, Spain returning to the peseta and devaluing; look at johnzx post & die of embarrassment: I thought pre-O-level (or whatever it is these days in the UK) knew how currency is handled.
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Actually, if I'm not mistaken, I believe you'll find that the legal limit in Spain is 0.25mg/l breath, not 0.5mg (with exceptions, for example the limit is lower if a commercial driver or learner driver).
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Yup, you're mistaken. Limit in Spain is 0.5mg/ml except for "new" drivers (<2yrs) which is 0.1mg/ml & commercial drivers. But my point was that it's different (e.g. 0.8 mg/ml in UK) so what's OK in 1 country isn't in another. Surely that's not a difficult to understand?
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Elaineg, suggest you try specsavers because you obviously cannot read the name i use on the forum, Whats Oso??
This is a forum, everyone has different opinions, i felt Johnzx comments did not make a lot of sense especially when he says a person maybe a better driver after a few drinks than a driver who hasnt drunk anything.
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OK point taken "Blue eyes" so great probably you are a man !!!
However maybe you should try reading again what johnz said i.e.
“I am not suggesting it is safer to drink and drive but a person who has had a drink sometimes might be a better driver even then, than another person, who is legally permitted to drive.”
That was clearly referring to,
“My ex-wife never drank but was probably the worst driver I ever knew, although she never had an accident in about 10 years driving.”
A very reasonable comment. Some people are awful drivers, albeit they are teetotal.
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I have seen too many results of DD. Good to think they are cracking down. Personally I go by the rule of , have a drink, don't drive. No point in guessing if you are under the limit or not. Zero tolerance would be the ideal. No one drives better when they have had a drink,they just think they do.
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careful in the summer, don't drink and drive
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Christine
"No one drives better when they have had a drink, .......... ."
** EDITED - Offensive to other member ** nevertheless, there are some awful drivers who, even though they have a DL should not be permitted to drive. Thus, logically there must be a lot of drivers who when slightly over the limit will still be better drivers than the ones who are awful drivers.
That was the point I was making when I said it is impossible to make laws which would ensure road safety.
(For those slow on the uptake, that still presupposes that every driver is a worse driver when they have had any amount to drink than when they are:- in good health, not tired, not deep in thought, not listening to the radio, not smoking, not pacifying the kids in the back seat etc. etc.).
And, as an aside. Why is a person who has consumed a little more in UK , than is permitted in Spain (0.8 compared with 0.5) still considered by law to not be a danger ?
And why is a person who is a public service driver not allowed to consume the same as an ordinary driver? Both are equally liable to kill or injure people if they are unfit to drive through drink or drugs !
Sorry, but often the law is an ass and fails to achieve its object.
This message was last edited by EOS Team on 16/07/2012.
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Christine,
Studies show what you state is true -- in UK on a track using professional drivers who were given 1 beer, then 2, then... -- and they consistently drove "worse" after each beer. But are they "better" drivers than the rest of us when we're all sober? Well, yes. Then there are other issues e.g. using a mobile phone while driving -- which studies have also shown is very dangerous -- or that speed kills: Take for instance the US where speed limits are crippling (in my view) but still 40,000 die on the roads every year, and that's with just 300m people, must less than Europe. I agree (for once) with johnzx that making laws doesn't solve the problem but if you take the flip side -- no laws at all -- surely that means anarchy? I think & hope it just means a little common sense/maturity on all our parts e.g. if your partner drank less than you, hand over the keys or, better, agree beforehand who's going to stay on coke & who answers that mobile in the car. Of course there can be extenuating circumstances e.g. a doctor friend called out on an emergency in the middle of a "piss-up" & breathalysed en route, was well over limit, so the cops escorted him to the scene. Had I been the guy who'd had the stroke, I know I wouldn't have said "But you shouldn't drive!" But I think all of us agree that, in normal circumstances, one should not drink & drive no matter what law applies. Cheers!
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It's only UK that has the higher limit. All other European countries are .5 or less with some having a zero limit. Most of them restrict newer drivers to even less. Mayber it's time for the UK to fall in line.
When I was young and stupid (instead of now when I'm old and stupid) I would drive after a pint or two. Now it's a case of zero when I'm driving. It's very difficult to stop after one small beer if you're enjoying yourself. I find it easier not to take that first one and, let's face it, some of the zero alcohol beers are now quite good unlike when they first came out. Just a shame not many pubs and restaurants over here seem to serve it.
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In EU, Luxembourg, Malta & Ireland all have 0.8mg/ml limit but I agree with your point. Good news (for me) is Alhambra sin alcohol actually tastes like beer, unlike all others I've tried. So if stopped, I couldn't really explain "I just wanted a beer" But on a lighter (?) note, my farmer neighbour drove his tractor into a steep ditch, was injured so emergency services mobilized, including breathalysed, found at 3mg/ml, had his (car) licence withdrawn so how did he do his shopping? Yes, on his tractor because there (not in Spain) you don't need a licence to drive a tractor. And here in Spain, another neighbour lost his licence but needed to get his daughter to school so got a horse which suited everybody. There is, of course, no excuse for drink driving but we all know worse crimes+
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http://alcohol-statistics-in-europe.own69.com/non_alcoholic_beer_contains_alcohol/
Non-alcoholic beer contains alcohol
Non-alcoholic beer is a low alcohol beer with alcohol content of less than .5% of its volume. It is important to note that non-alcoholic beer contains alcohol, and thatnone of the beers currently on the market are completely alcohol free.
Although so called non-alcoholic beers are actually alcoholic despite of their names, non-alcoholic beer contains alcohol up to 0.5% because of the production methods, and not because of the brewer’s desire. A person drinking enough of this non-alcoholic beer could actually get drunk. For example if the non-alcoholic beer you're drinking has 0.1% alcohol, you can, theoretically drink 5 times more than if you would be drinking beer with 0.5% alcohol, and reach the legal alcohol limit.
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I agree it should be standardised throughout Europe but I do favour the zero rate. The same with drugs,although I don't want to get into the discussion of mobile/kids/radio etc. which all come under due care and attention etc. it's all about making roads safer for all users. We have probably all known someone who has been a victim of a DD or indeed ourselves, so what ever measures taken can only be for the good, throu out Europe. Interesting comments here.Thank you.
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