BOB drink-driving campaign kicks off winter edition

BOB drink-driving campaign kicks off winter edition
The 'BOB' campaign aims to raise awareness of the dangers of drink-driving. Credit: Benoit Doppagne / Belga

The drink-driving campaign 'BOB' has launched its winter edition in coordination with Pro League football and the Federal Police.

BOB is the term for designated driver in Dutch. This year's winter edition of the drink-driving awareness campaign is organised by the Vias road safety institute, the Federal Police, Belgian Brewers and Assuralia. It will be present at Pro League football matches.

"Each match day, 100,000 spectators attend Pro League games. Every weekend, 1.3 million players, fans and parents go to amateur and youth matches," said Pro League CEO Lorin Parys. "With this campaign, we are targeting about 350,000 designated drivers each week."

Awareness actions will take place in all first-division stadiums, as well as FC Liège and La Louvière. Beginning on Friday evening with the Kortrijk-Mechelen match, they will continue into the weekend at Bruges-Dender, OHL-Anderlecht, Beerschot-Cercle Bruges and FC Liège-Deinze matches.

Supporters will be able to test the alcohol levels in their blood before driving home, and those with alcohol-free results will receive a keychain in the colours of their football club. 16 different keychains have been created for the winter campaign.

Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck

Messages such as 'Don't drink and drive' will be displayed on scoreboards before and during matches, as well as on social media posts.

The campaign will also extend to Christmas markets in Brussels, Verviers, Hasselt and Leuven, where the same keychains will be distributed.

Federal Police say they are a "loyal partner" to the campaign. They will conduct checks anytime and anywhere from Friday 29 November to Monday 3 February.

There were 3,907 alcohol-related accidents in 2023, 5% less than the previous year, according to Vias. The average blood alcohol level of these drivers was over three times the legal limit.

46,712 drivers were caught for drink-driving (roughly 130 every day) in the same year.

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