An in-depth report by newspaper i this week revealed that the Algarve is the area in Portugal where GNR officers catch the greatest number of drivers who are over the legal alcohol limit for driving.
According to the GNR, the main reason for this is the fact that the Algarve’s population booms in summer, further bolstered by an intense night life.
While “crime statistics are normally headed by the districts of Lisbon and Setúbal, when it comes to driving while under the influence of alcohol, the district of Faro is by far the one with the greatest number of offences.”
In 2014, the GNR caught 3,247 drivers on roads in the Algarve who were behind the wheel while drunk, and this year, up to 18 August, those statistics have topped 2,200 cases.
Those figures are, according to i, “superior to other more populated parts of the country with more traffic, such as Lisbon or Setúbal – where in 2014, 2,313 and 2,445 drunk drivers were caught, respectively – or Braga, the district with the largest road network in Portugal where 2,810 cases were caught.”
The “exponential” growth of the Algarve’s population during holidays and its “intense nightlife” are, according to the GNR, reasons that contribute towards the Algarve being at the top of the boozy drivers’ table.
Between May and September the region’s population swells, particularly in June, July and August, which also pushes up the number of vehicles on its roads.
GNR spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lourenço da Silva told the newspaper: “In the Algarve practically all crime rises in summer and offences such as alcohol on roads are not an exception.”
Because of this the number of police checks staged on the roads also increases, and added to that is the Algarve’s famous nightlife.
“Rare is the night where there are no actions, planned or unplanned, to crack down on drink-driving”, the GNR spokesperson said.
Recent figures have further shown that the number of drink-driving cases have risen throughout the country.
Nationwide between 1 January and 18 August 2015 19,264 cases were logged by the GNR, 2,267 more than the 16,997 registered during the same period of last year.
The number of drink-driving arrests made by the PSP force also confirms the trend; last year from January to August that force detained 5,778 drivers under the influence whereas this year the figure rose to 6,459.
But, Lourenço da Silva stressed, the fact there are more offenders does not mean that people are committing more crimes; the numbers are, according to the GNR, due to an increase in the number of police checks being carried out on the ground.
“There has been an increase in surveillance, in line with the rest of the European Union”, Lourenço da Silva explained, adding:” The goal is to have in the near future, such a large number of drivers checked that people finally realise that driving under the influence of alcohol does not compensate, thereby reducing the rates. “
Statistics from the National Institute of Legal medicine show that one in every three road deaths is connected to alcohol, which suggests drinking before driving is a catalyst for serious accidents.
But still the GNR is reluctant to underline that stance; it says there are no studies which sustain that drinking alcohol is “the primary cause” of accidents.
Lourenço da Silva emphasised: “What we do know, and with all certainty, is that consuming alcohol decisively affects driving.”