A protracted campaign against drink driving is paying off, with new police data showing that the percentage of motorists failing breathalyser tests is continuing to drop.
A total 26,740 people were stopped for blood-alcohol tests over the past four days in the Greater Athens region, police said Monday, and only 228 – or 0.85% of the total – were found above the legal limit. Nine people were so drunk that police arrested them.
A week earlier, 21,126 motorists had been stopped and 195, or 0.92%, were found over the limit.
Monday’s police statement said another 4,687 traffic violations were recorded over the past four days in the Greater Athens region, including speeding, failure to wear seat belts of crash helmets, talking on the phone and running red lights.
Traffic police have for months mounted an unprecedentedly dedicated and tenacious campaign to crack down on dangerous driving, following the conservative government’s overhauling of the highway code that introduced much stricter fines and penalties for violations.
