The General Directorate of Traffic will initiate, as every year, a new surveillance campaign with a focus on Christmas dinners. This campaign begins on December 5 in which, above all, the controls of alcohol and other drugs of the DGT. A special campaign that will last for a week and that will be added to the already usual controls that will be carried out during all the Christmas festivities.
Drink-driving continues to be a problem. And the DGT defends this type of campaign not only because of its effectiveness in penalizing drivers who break the rules by getting behind the wheel of a car under the influence of alcohol and other drugs, but also for discouraging and avoiding this type of imprudence, in a It is a time like this when it is common for precautions to be relaxed and social events to increase, such as business dinners and lunches and pre-Christmas gatherings.
As in other previous campaigns, the DGT recalls that the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard will participate in the controls, as well as the regional and local police forces.
The DGT campaign of “company dinners”
The DGT also warns that the controls will not always be carried out at night and in “hot” and usual nightlife locations. Controls will be carried out at any time of the day and in random locationsthe latter being more and more common due to the increasingly widespread use of applications that warn of the presence of traffic patrols.
In last year’s campaign, the DGT completed 153,276 alcohol and drug tests, of which 3,175 were positive, 1,731 for alcohol and 1,444 for drugs. Of those sanctioned, 1,467 were detected in random and preventive controls, 91 after having committed an offense and 18 for presenting obvious symptoms of having consumed alcohol or drugs.
In just one week, criminal sanctions were instituted against 224 drivers, who exceeded the rate of 0.60 mg/liter in exhaled air.
The maximum alcohol rates of the DGT
This is how they are fixed the maximum rates of alcohol admitted by the DGTfrom which we will be sanctioned:
| drivers | limit in blood | Limit in expired air |
|---|---|---|
| General | 0.5g/liter | 0.25mg/liter |
| Professionals | 0.3g/liter | 0.15mg/liter |
| Novices | 0.3g/liter | 0.15mg/liter |
With respect to other drugs, the DGT has not established consumption and presence thresholds in blood and exhaled air. The controls that are carried out in Spain identify the presence of other drugs, and the positivity in one of them results in the sanction of the driver.
DGT fines for alcohol
Next, the fines established by the DGT for positives for alcohol:
| alcohol rate | Sanction |
|---|---|
| More than 0.25 mg/liter and up to 0.5 mg/liter | 500 euros and 4 points |
| More than 0.5 mg/liter | 1,000 euros and 6 points |
| repeat offenders | 1,000 euros and 4 or 6 points (depending on the alcohol rate) |
vial security felony
It is also important to remember the following cases, in which a positive for alcohol and other drugs, or the refusal to submit to tests, becomes a crime and carries prison sentences:
- Rates higher than 0.6 mg/liter in blood and 1.2 g/liter in air: Imprisonment from 1 to 6 months, or a fine from 6 to 12 months, or work for the benefit of the community from 30 to 90 days. Deprivation of the right to drive from one to four years.
- Driving under the presence of other drugs: Imprisonment from 1 to 6 months, or a fine from 6 to 12 months, or work for the benefit of the community from 30 to 90 days. Deprivation of the right to drive from one to four years.
- Refusal to submit to tests: Imprisonment from six months to one year and deprivation of the right to drive from one to four years.
