The police will organise a drunk driving surveillance marathon throughout the country between 9 and 10 December 2022. As many breathalyser tests as possible will be carried out in urban areas and on roads outside them during that time from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon to detect drunk drivers, as well as instant drug tests at a low threshold to detect the use of other drugs.
In the surveillance, attention will also be paid to the drivers’ driving health.
“In addition to speeding, drunk driving poses the greatest risk to the lives and safety of road users”, says Police Inspector Tuomo Katajisto from the National Police Board of Finland.
According to preliminary data from 2021, a total of 41 people died and 338 were injured in accidents related to drunk driving. During the last three years, every fifth road traffic casualty and every tenth injury has been caused by a drunk driving accident.
In the corresponding marathon organised in 2021, breathalyser tests were administered to more than 8,000 drivers, of which 35 had too much alcohol in their blood. Instant drug tests were administered to 61 people, of whom 14 were suspected of drunk driving.
According to Tuomo Katajisto, the police’s sincerest wish is that people under the influence of alcohol would refrain from driving.
