Laurence Dollimore
THE Guardia Civil will carry out 25,000 alcohol and drug tests on Spain’s roads this week.
The extensive checks are part of a campaign with the European traffic police network TIPSOL, which will ramp up checks across the continent.
The goal is to catch habitual drink or drug drivers who regularly travel under the influence.
Almost 100,000 drivers in Spain have been detected committing the offence this year already.
It was only a month ago that notorious expat Westley Capper mowed down and killed a Bolivian mother while under the influence in San Pedro.
While Spain has considerably lower maximum limits than the UK and its European counterparts, the smallest amount of alcohol and drugs can affect driving ability.
Out of the thousands killed in road accidents each year, 40% display the presence of alcohol or drugs in their system, according to the National Institute of Toxicology.
There is a certain irony in the fact that, out of the thousands killed in road accidents each year, 60% DO NOT display the presence of alcohol or drugs in their system, according to the National Institute of Toxicology.
This makes sober drivers more dangerous ‘statistically’…. but yes I do agree nobody should drive whilst intoxicated or stoned, however the levels are ridiculously low.
If you were driving whilst technically over the limit, and a sober texting driver ran into you, who would be to blame in the eyes of the Police?
At a guess John, you would both stand to be convicted, but only the “drunk/stoned” one would be carted off to the nick for further testing.
Another question. To take cannabis for instance. It remains detectable in the system for up to three months. Do these “drugalysers” record it’s density in the blood, indicating unfitness to drive?
After all, that is how breathalysers and the following blood tests work. Also, do they detect “Spice” and other “legal highs?” Prescription drugs? Daft levels of caffeine? (Common in coffee-drinking Spain)
It’s just another desperate money-spinner. Got to find wages for the cops somehow.
Cannabis use within six hours is supposedly the test. My worker tells me that its not accurate and detects metabolites from use a day or two earlier, say weekend use, tested on a Monday. He carries in his truck some expensive compound dissolved in water which when drunk allows the cannabis traces to be readily excreted.
For me the problem isn’t taking stoned people off the road; the problem is using test methods that fail in several cases out of one hundred but can’t be appealed.