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Driving under the influence

Alcohol and drugs

In the Netherlands, an estimated quarter of all road deaths are caused by drink-driving. The percentage of drivers under the influence may be decreasing, but this trend can only observed among the light drinkers. Especially young males, heavy drinkers, and users of a combination of alcohol and drugs have a high risk of being severely injured in a road crash.

 

About three-quarters of the severe alcohol crashes are caused by drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) higher than 1.3 g/l. Nearly a quarter of alcohol casualties consist of young males in the ages 18-24 years old, although they only form 4% of the population.

 

In the Netherlands, there has been a legal BAC limit of 0.5 g/l since 1974. From 1 January 2006 the limit for novice drivers, i.e. those who have had their driving licence for less than five years, was lowered to 0.2 g/l.

 

Alcohol testing along the roadside is done with portable electronic breath testers; to obtain legal evidence, non-portable, more accurate breath analysis equipment is used which is available at a police station or in a special bus.

 

During the last 20 years the use of drugs by motorists has been increasing. The drug most common in traffic is cannabis; in the Netherlands 1 in 20 drivers has traces of this drug in the blood. An additional 3% use medicines that can negatively influence driving skills; these include sleeping pills, tranquillizers, and codeine. As yet, there are no legal limits for drugs and medicines that influence the central nervous system.

 

Measures to limit driving while under the influence (DUI) have up till now focussed on alcohol, but the call for also being stricter on drugs in traffic is getting ever louder. An alcolock programme for heavy drinkers and recidivists will be introduced not later than 2009.

 

For more details see: Fact sheet Driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs (pdf)

More information about the Alcolock