Alcohol and driving are an incompatible couple, but even so every year the ingestion of alcoholic beverages is present in between 30% and 50% of fatal accidents that occur in Spain. The data collected by the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) is evidence that drivers are not aware of the danger of getting behind the wheel with an extra drink, despite the fact that for decades breathalyzer controls have been carried out to guarantee Road safety.
The DGT began carrying out road breathalyzer controls on drivers in 1981 and since then it has carried out more than 6.5 million tests, most of them of a preventive nature. In Catalonia and the Basque Country, which have transferred the powers, it is their own traffic agents who are in charge of carrying out these tests on interurban roads. When the control takes place on an urban road, it is carried out by agents of the municipal police.
Any driver may be required to carry out a breathalyzer control on all types of roads, both urban and interurban, according to the Traffic and Road Safety Law. If the result is negative, the driver returns to circulation. However, if the agents detect signs of the influence of other substances, they can then carry out a drug test.
If the result is positive, there is an administrative infraction and the corresponding sanctions are applied. These penalties include a fine of 500 to 1,000 euros and the loss of 4 to 6 points from the card, depending on the alcohol rate. When the alcohol level exceeds 0.60 mg/l of exhaled air (1.2 g/l in blood) it is considered a crime and can lead to the direct loss of the license for 1 to 4 years. In addition, according to the Penal Code, this infraction can mean from 2 to 6 months in prison.
Broadly speaking, this information is what we all have internalized and that we could summarize with the phrase that the DGT chose as its slogan to carry out one of its most successful prevention campaigns: “If you drink, don’t drive”. However, there is much more confusion when instead of a motorist we talk about a pedestrian. Can he be required to take a breathalyzer test?
This question has been formulated by the DGT itself, through social networks, to users proposing three scenarios to choose the correct answer. The first two options are yes (if the pedestrian is responsible for the accident or if it is a preventive control), while the third indicates that “in no case” is it required.
The correct answer is A, the first, since the regulations establish that a pedestrian is obliged to take a breathalyzer test when he is involved as a possible person responsible for an accident. It is included in article 12.2 of the Traffic and Road Safety Law, as we can read below.
“All vehicle drivers are obliged to submit to tests for the detection of alcohol or the presence of drugs in the body, which will be carried out by the agents in charge of traffic surveillance. Likewise, other users of the road when they are involved in a traffic accident or have committed an infraction in accordance with the provisions of this Law”, indicates the aforementioned article.
The fine that a pedestrian receives for failing a breathalyzer test is the same as that imposed on drivers. In no case does the sanction entail the loss of card points.
In the event that a pedestrian refuses to take breathalyzer tests, the law provides for fines of up to 1,000 euros. This sanction is the same that could fall on the passenger of a vehicle who, without being the driver of the same, refuses to submit to control.
