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Police holiday roadblocks make strong statement
Belgium’s commitment to get drunk drivers off the road made a strong impression this weekend when police staged a large operation across the country .
The roadblocks resulted in 129 drivers exceeding the legal alcohol limit among 3,531 who were pulled aside and tested by federal police along Belgium’s roads between 8pm Saturday and 4am Sunday.
Of those found over the limit, 62 were handed three hour driving suspensions, another 59 were banned from driving for six hours, while eight were banished from the road for 15 days. Police announced that a total of 12 driving licenses were confiscated.
Belgium’s legal limit for alcohol is 0.5 grams per litre of blood.
The operation involved 166 federal police across all of Belgium’s 10 provinces. Roadblocks will continue throughout the holidays.
Comments
So, of 129 people who were over the drink-drive limit, 121 of them were allowed to drive again within six hours with no further action against them? And this demonstrates a commitment to get drunk drivers off the road?
Sometimes I really wonder about Belgium drinking and driving laws when I read stories such as this one! I had a friend in the US that had his driver's license suspended for a year after being stopped by the sheriff because he had a missing tail light and "seemed" impaired. He had some empty beer cans in the back of his truck from a party two nights before and did not even drink that day.
He also had to pay a huge fine in court and spend $2000 to retain an attorney in order to fight this in justice. One extreme to the other!
The reality in Belgium is that it's hard to tell the difference between those who drink and drive and those who don't drink and drive.