A closer look at drinking drivers in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands regular roadside surveys including breath testing of drivers take place on Friday and Saturday nights. The findings are presented for the 1987 survey, based on 1825 drivers of whom 129 had a BAC of over the legal limit of 0.5 per mille, and some interpretation and discussion is included as well as comparison with a smaller weekday sample of 250 drivers. Two tables are also presented showing blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and age of driver, and BAC and time of night. The overall percentage of drivers with an illegal BAC during weekend nights has gone down from 12% in 1983 to 8% in 1987. However, while the drop in percentage of drivers with an illegal BAC is relatively steep for drivers under for drivers under 25 years old, (10% in 1983 to 4% in 1987), there is hardly any change for the hours of 02.00 to 04.00 amongst drivers aged 25 to 50 and for drivers leaving public drinking places. This suggests that drinking in public places could be fruitfully selected for preventative action.