Cars and bars

Pic of the week

Alcohol control on the ring of Antwerp last Saturday. That night on the A12 between Antwerp and Brussels nearly one in four drivers who were stopped blew over the legal blood-alcohol limit. Photo by John Weaver

Last Saturday my sister-in-law traded us her car for our toddler so we could have a night on the town in Antwerp with our friends Trevor and Hanne. It was sometime just after midnight and we were about to leave the city when we saw that the police had blocked the entire road going out. One at a time, each car approached the barricade and the driver had to blow into a breathalyzer before being allowed through.

Not to panic – we passed with flying colors thanks to the non-drinking heroics of our designated driver Monika. 

But not everyone had a hero with them that night. 

The next morning on the radio I heard that nearly one in four drivers who were stopped the night before on the A12 between Antwerp and Brussels blew over the legal limit of .5 mg alcohol per 1,000 milliliters (which equals about one or two glasses of beer or wine). 

One in four people. That seemed like a lot, but not when I read that actually one in three car accidents in Belgium involves alcohol. This fact has even led to talk of lowering the limit to .2 mg. We can debate whether lowering the limit is the best approach, or if more policing and public awareness campaigns about drinking and driving would be better. My opinion is that simply lowering the limit and doing more policing probably won’t have a huge impact. And, sure, I’m all in favor of more public awareness campaigns about drunk driving. But (and this is not just in Belgium, but everywhere) unless parents are willing to talk about it openly with their kids, and friends with friends, I’m afraid cars and bars will continue to make a dangerous mix (… just look at these stats below).

Drunk driving deaths per country

Source: World Health Organization (WHO), Global status report on road safety 2013

Europe (% of road deaths involving alcohol)

Cyprus	43
Slovenia	36
Luxembourg	35
France	31
Portugal	31
Spain	31
Croatia	30
Belgium	25
Finland	24
N. Ireland	24
Sweden	22
Lithuania	21
Denmark	20
Netherlands	20
Estonia	15
Czech Rep	14
Great Britain	14
Germany	11
Ireland	11
Latvia	10
Poland	9
Hungary	8
Romania	8
Slovakia	8
Austria	6
Bulgaria	4
Greece	no data
Italy	no data
Malta	no data

Other

South Africa	55
Canada	33
New Zealand	32
United States	32
Australia	30
Mexico	23
Russia	8
China	3

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A guy walks into a bar and asks, “Do you serve women in this bar?”
”No,” replies the barman, “you have to bring your own.”