The Federal Highway Police are teaming up with local police forces to organise the 16th Weekend Without Alcohol and Drugs Behind the Wheel, which will see them carrying out increased checks on road users.
On Friday, the police will kick off its annual campaign against drunk and drug driving with extra checks across the country on traffic.
The aim of the action is more to raise awareness than to fine people who are in violation of the rules. "That is also why we announce the action in advance. So people can look for a BOB or another alternative like public transport, a taxi or staying overnight," said An Berger of the Federal Police.
During the previous edition in January this year, police checked nearly 48,000 drivers, of whom 1.62% exceeded the permitted limit, a figure that was slightly lower than in June last year, when it was 2.15%, and much lower than the start of 2022, when 2.29% of the drivers checked were in the offence.
However, the number of licences revoked for driving under the influence of drugs did increase slightly, from 101 in January 2022 to 119 in January 2023. This reflects the trend of a rising number of people getting behind the wheel after using drugs.
"Figures from traffic institute Vias show that around 4,000 injury accidents each year can be linked to drink-driving. That's really too many," said Berger. Police hope that both figures will drop (even) more during this edition.
When the weekend officially kicks off for most, at 18:00 on Friday evening, the police will start increasing their checks, and will continue to do so until 06:00 in the morning on Monday.
