51.9% of the drivers who died last year in Spain had consumed alcohol, drugs or psychotropic drugs, according to the 2022 Report on Toxicological Findings in Fatal Victims of Traffic Accidents, prepared by the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences (INTCF). . This data is the worst that has been recorded in the historical series since the aforementioned body of the Ministry of Justice began collecting them in 1992. With this increase, an upward trend is confirmed in the last five years: in 2017, 42.1% they tested positive; in 2018, 43.4%; in 2019, 45.5%; in 2020, 48.7%; and in 2021, 49.4% (until now this was the highest figure).
The 2022 Report includes the results of the toxicological analyzes carried out, at the request of the judicial bodies, on 1,214 people who died (854 drivers, 221 pedestrians and 137 companions) in traffic accidents through a blood sample. Although not all road accidents with fatalities are analyzed at the Institute, the sample is broad and representative.
The 451 positive results of drivers in the consumption of alcohol, drugs and/or psychotropic drugs show a clear majority of men (92.0%), while 63.6% were between 25 and 54 years old, and 51.4 % drove a car, while 33% rode a motorcycle or moped.
In relation to the presence of substances consumed by the dead drivers, 67.2% of the positive cases were alcohol (72.6% with a blood alcohol level equal to or greater than 1.2 grams per liter of alcohol in blood); 38.6% in drugs, and 27.7% in psychotropic drugs.
During the presentation of the results of the report, the director of the INTCF, Antonio Alonso, stressed that the increase in drivers who tested positive was not due to the increase in alcohol or drugs compared to previous years, but rather to the use of psychotropic drugs, especially antidepressants and opioids.
The most detected drug was cocaine (63.2%), followed by cannabis (49.4%). Regarding the associated consumption of alcohol and drugs, the most prevalent were alcohol and cocaine (46.1%), and alcohol and cannabis (31.4%).
In the last four years there has been an upward trend in deceased drivers who tested positive for alcohol, going from 26.5% in 2018 to 35.5% last year. The same is not true of drugs, which in 2022 halted a seven-year rise to 20.4% (21.3% in 2021).
On the other hand, 42.5% of the 221 pedestrians killed by traffic accidents analyzed by the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences tested positive for alcohol, drugs and/or psychotropic drugs.
In 75.5% of the cases they were men and in 35.1% they were 65 years of age or older. 48.9% had consumed alcohol (58.7% of them with a blood alcohol level greater than 1.2 g/l), 33.0% had taken drugs, and 48.9%, psychotropic drugs.
“This is the first time that we have detected that the incidence of psychotropic drugs is the same as that of alcohol. The consumption of psychotropic drugs is clearly increasing due to post-pandemic effects, which are being seen in other series analyzed in different causes of death,” Alonso stressed.
For her part, the general director of the Public Justice Service, Mª dels Àngels García Vidal, pointed out that traffic accidents are the third leading cause of violent death in Spain, behind suicides and accidental falls.
