Benalmádena police issued with hi-tech devices to test drivers for drugs and alcohol
This year’s Christmas drink-driving campaign in the Costa del Sol holiday resort will have a special focus on reducing drug-related accidents
Local Police officers in Benalmadena are being issued with extra equipment to carry out this year’s Christmas drink-driving campaign, which will have a special focus on reducing drug-related accidents. Police patrols will use hi-tech equipment like toxicological screening tests to detect drugs, and portable reading devices to send samples direct to the laboratory from the roadside.
According to the force, alcohol and drugs are a contributing factor in a third of fatal accidents, so measures will be in place to prevent the loss of lives, which, they say, is avoidable if drivers refrain from drinking alcohol or driving under the influence of narcotic substances.
The measures are in line with the Spanish Road Safety Strategy 2030 – ‘Zero tolerance of risky behaviour’, which identifies alcohol and other drug consumption as behaviour contrary to road safety.
Spain's Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) claims that driving after the consumption of psychoactive substances like cannabis, cocaine and amphetamines is “comparatively common in Spain”.
The town hall said that although public awareness regarding the consumption of alcohol while driving “maintains an upward trajectory, the same does not apply to drugs”.
