Tackling Drink Driving in Sweden

Lars Olov Sjöström

Traffic Safety Manager

SMART policies for tackling drink driving

Lisbon 20th of September 2019

• MHF is a non-profit traffic safety organization, founded in 1926

• MHF has great expertise in the area of alcohol, drugs and traffic.

• MHF is the owner of an ISO 17025-accredited test laboratory that carries out tests on alcohol ignition interlocks and breathalysers according to international technical standards

• MHF cooperates with national and local authorities responsible for road safety.

This is MHF!

MHF – Swedish Abstaining Motorists’ Association

Areas of activity– Young people’s attitude towards alcohol and driving

– Legal practice that promotes traffic safety

– Campaigning for alcolocks

– Road safety in general

– A consumer organisation for motorists

Sweden: facts

• Area: 528 447 km² (121 107 km² water)

• ≈ 10,2 million inhabitants

• ≈ 6,5 million driving licences

• ≈ 6,2 million vehicles (in use)

Percentage of sober traffic 2007-2018

Sober traffic

Necessary

development

Killed in Sweden in alcohol and / or drug-related accidents, 2008-

2018.

Number and proportion (of total number of fatalities in

Sweden, right y-axis) persons killed in alcohol and / or

drug-related accidents, 2008-2018.

* Excluding suicide from 2010.

Alcohol and illegal drugs

Illegal drugs

Alcohol

DUI Offences in Sweden

1784717064 16979

1524413999 13769

13045 1206511776 1162612116 12555 12659

1195912814 12507

13083 1263113804 14301

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

20000

year 2009 year 2010 year 2011 year 2012 year 2013 year 2014 year 2015 year 2016 year 2017 year 2018

Number of Road Traffic Offences

Drink driving offences Drug driving offences

Roadside breath testing in Sweden

• The Swedish Police, the Swedish Coast Guard,

and Swedish Customs have the right to conduct

roadside breathalyser tests, even without

suspicion of intoxication.

• Officials within the Swedish Coast Guard and

Swedish Customs can also conduct regular

checks, both at ferry quays and on the roads.

• Authorities compile statistics on the number of

sobriety tests in road traffic.

Reduced number of breathalyser tests in traffic leads to

reduced drink-driving charges

0

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

3000000

y2009

y2010

y2011

y2012

y2013

y2014

y2015

y2016

y2017

y2018

Roadside sobriety breath tests in Sweden

0

2000

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6000

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10000

12000

14000

16000

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20000

year2009

year2010

year2011

year2012

year2013

year2014

year2015

year2016

year2017

year2018

Number of Road Traffic Offences

Drink driving offences Drug driving offences

The public's attitude to impaired driving

• A high level of acceptance of the current legislation regarding

alcohol, drugs and traffic

• Drivers are usually more positive to sobriety checks than to speed

controls in road traffic

• 85% of the Swedes are familiar with the Vision Zero

Overview – strategies undertaken to tackle drink

driving

• Strong political commitment from the Swedish Government giving drink driving a high

priority

• Mandatory education on negative effects alcohol/drugs when applying for a driver´s

licence (type B)

• Regulation 2009:1 for authorities that include interlocks when purchasing vehicles and

transports

• Rehabilitation program SMADIT (Collaboration against alcohol and drugs in traffic)

• Alcohol ignition interlocks, ”Swedish strategy 2007”: 1. Preventive use. 1999, 2. Program

for DUI offenders.(1999, 2003. Permanent since 1/1 2012.)

Experiences from the trial with automatic sobriety

checkpoints (”Alco Gates”) in Sweden

• The activities with Alco Gates were conducted in collaboration between the project owner MHF and the Swedish Transport Administration, the National Police, the Customs and the Coast Guard.

• The cooperation also included the Ports of Stockholm and shipping companies.

Alco Gates - A project in broad collaboration

• The legal premises have been investigated by the legal experts of the National Police and are presented in a separate memo

• The operations with Alco Gates can be done on the basis of legislation already existing

• The automatic sobriety check constitutes a screening instrument, and the folded traffic barriers are approved as equivalent to the policeman's stop sign.

• The control activities are carried out in full compliance with the law

Legal Premises

A New Measurement Technique with High Accuracy

Traffic Management Centre in Tibro

Evidenzer Room in the Port

Statistics from the test period September 24 -December 31, 2014

• 9819 controlled car drivers

• 75 of them reported for drunk driving

• 0.76% of the car drivers intoxicated over 0.2 ‰

• 2 650 controlled drivers of trucks / buses

• 12 of them reported for drunk driving

• 0,45 % of the truck / bus drivers intoxicated over 0.2 ‰

Results from the Alco Gates (1)

Percentage of Impaired Drivers during the Trial

Period (weekly) Sept – Dec 2014

Trends during the Trial Period

0.00

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

dag 1-7 dag 8-14 dag 15-21

dag 22-28

dag 29-35

dag 36-42

dag 43-49

dag 50-56

dag 57-63

dag 64-70

dag 71-77

dag 78-84

dag 85-88

• The traffic flow has worked well and the controls have not created

additional queues, in addition to those that are always created

when many vehicles are driven out from a ferry and out into the

traffic.

Traffic Flow

Film from the harbour

Show ”Film utfart Frihamnen”

After the trial period

• The project has been evaluated and a report was submitted to the Swedish Transport

Administration in March 2015.

• The trial was followed by a government mandate to continue the controls during year

2015.

• A inquiry was commissioned to examine how the introduction of Alco gates can be

implemented.

• September 2017: The Swedish Government instructed the Swedish Transport

Administration to introduce facilities for automatic sobriety checkpoints in all major ports

• September 2019: The first permanent alco gate installation in one of Gothenburg's ports

Outcomes from the Tylösand Conference 2019• Swedish Action Plan for Safe Road Traffic

2019-2022.

• The action plan reports a total of 111 measures

that 14 authorities and stakeholders have the

ambition to implement to contribute to safe

road traffic during the period 2019-2022.

• The Government will examine proposals for

more effective monitoring of commercial

traffic

• Among other things, the conditions for

allowing authorities to carry out drug

screening tests, ie testing drivers without

suspicion of crime, are being investigated.

Thank you for your attention!

Lars Olov Sjöström