The police monitored drunk drivers for 36 hours

The police carried out an intensified drunk driving surveillance throughout the country between 6pm on Friday 24 March and 6am on Sunday 26 March.

The police spent a total of 2,130 working hours on the surveillance operation, during which time they carried out 36,000 breathalyser tests and 120 instant drug tests. There were 122 drivers caught driving while intoxicated, of whom 88 are suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and 34 are suspected of driving under the influence of narcotics.

240 of the drivers breathalysed were below the limit for driving while intoxicated.

The surveillance campaign also paid attention to drivers’ driving health, and 28 interim driving bans were issued in this respect.

The surveillance campaign caught 17 persons on the wanted list.

“In addition to speeding, drunk driving poses the greatest risk to the lives and safety of road users,” says Chief Superintendent Heikki Ihalainen at the National Police Board of Finland.

According to preliminary data from 2022, a total of 36 people died and 395 were injured in accidents related to drunk driving. During the past three years, one in five road traffic casualties and one in ten injuries were caused by a drunk driving accident.

A drink-drive crackdown carried out in December 2022 breathalysed 21,000 drivers, 66 of whom had too much alcohol in their blood, 52 persons were given instant drug tests and there was reason to suspect 18 of these of driving while intoxicated.