The GNR’s 100% Cool summer campaign to asses the drinking habit of Portugal’s young drivers has concluded they are drinking less alcohol before driving.
Encouragingly, there is an increase in the ‘designated driver’ arrangement, according to the report released by the Algarve’s GNR and the National Association of Spirits.
"Those young Portuguese drivers checked during the 100% Cool campaign this Summer, carried out by the GNR, proved that young drivers are increasingly aware of the importance of not drinking alcohol before driving, or doing so in moderation," according to a statement from the National Association of Spirits.
The 100% Cool campaign started in 2000 and this year saw 316 young people stopped in five sessions in Albufeira and Vilamoura between 2 and 24 of August. Of those breathalised, 220 showed no blood alcohol at all or were driving below the new, lower legal alcohol limit.
This "reinforces the patterns of reduction in alcohol consumption by Portuguese drivers aged 18 to 30-years old," noted the Association.
"This year we witnessed a growing and very positive phenomenon, which is that a group of young people who hang out together will elect one of them as the driver who simply does not consume alcohol," said Secretary-General of the Association, Mario Moniz Barreto.
To Barreto, "this shows a very healthy awareness about the dangers of alcohol consumption and driving."
The 100% Cool campaign saw GNR officers stopping young drivers on access routes to nightlife venues to raise their awareness of the dangers of alcohol consumption if driving.
Last weekend the usual GNR national roadside checks in Operation Tispol stopped 294,439 drivers and recorded four drivers without legal entitlement to drive, two were drunk and one was arrested for taking exception to being stopped.
The operation concentrated on roads where speeding is common and 4,809 drivers were caught exceeding the legal speed limit.
1,297 GNR officers across the country issued a total of 669 enforcement actions, and 3,528 notices of a violation of traffic regulations.
Of these offenses, 59 were due to lack of MOT, 54 for using their mobile phones while driving, and 31 for not wearing a seat belt.
