The increased alcohol and drug control is a joint initiative between the Police, the Transport Administration and NTF. During the week, many alcohol controls will be carried out in Sweden, and also in many other countries in Europe.
2010 was a good Road Safety Year, also in view of drinking and driving. Only five percent of car drivers who died in Region Mitt in 2010 was through the influence of alcohol. The average for the years 2005-2010 is about 25 percent. But still, many people, especially young people, continue to drive drunk.
- Although we are moving in the right direction, alcohol-related accidents are still a major problem in the roads where about one in four passenger car drivers are intoxicated in the Region Mitt, which is a few percent higher than the national average says Gabriella Gulliksson, Transport Administration Region Mitt. We must try harder to get young drivers to understand that drinking and driving is highly dangerous, both for themselves and for others.
Stefan Westerlund, traffic police in Västernorrland:
- All police officers in the external services shall devote as much time as possible to verify that people are sober in traffic. We will be in places where we know there is a likelyhood of motorists driving drunk, for example, outside the liquor store and when the bars close. Our focus is that fewer people will be killed and injured in traffic due to alcohol and drug affected drivers.- This year, we urge all those planing to drink alcohol to leave their cars home. It is becoming increasingly common to have a beer on friday after work and we want everyone to take responsibility even then. Alcohol and driving never fit together, says Mona-Lill Landströms NTF Västernorrland. Just under one day at the end of September on Trafiknykterhetensdag the police reported 21 alcohol and drug abuse cases.