More than one driver in ten is driving on weeknights under the influence of alcohol, more than twice more than fifteen years ago, the latest Vias barometer published on Tuesday revealed.
Globally, the percentage of drivers under the influence has reached 1.9%, an identical figure to that of fifteen years ago. More than 6,100 drivers were tested for the purposes of this barometer.
The percentage of drunk drivers largely depends on the time of the week. During the days of the week, an average of 0.4% of drivers test positive; on weekend days, it is 1.2%. On the other hand, these percentages rocket at night: more than one driver in 10 (10.7%) drives while over the legal limit on weeknights and nearly one driver in eight (12.6%) does so on nights over the weekend, Vias stated.
In Flanders, the percentage of drivers testing positive is 1.7%. In Wallonia, it rises to 2.1% on average, which is a favourable development when compared with the last behaviour measurement exercise carried out in 2015, when 3.9% of drivers in Wallonia were driving under the influence.
On average, 2.8% of men get behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol versus 0.6% of women. "The fact that more men drive while drunk than women is all the more detrimental to road safety in that they travel more frequently by car than women," the institute for road safety stated.
The Brussels Times
