Someone told me yesterday that from 1st September, there will be zero tolerance on drink driving i.e. any hint of a driver having drunk alcohol will constitute an offense. Is this true? Haven't seen anything in the press but then we do live in the mountains.

No it's not true.

However the fines are increasing soon under the new changes to the driving laws.

http://politica.elpais.com/politica/...37_758080.html

HI

Can I ask do you know if it is still half that you pay, i.e. you get nicked under .65 and your fined 500€ but only pay 250€ to get it over with quick

Also do you think with such high fines there maybe some level of corruption ?

Many thanks for the clarification Fred.

It's time there was zero tolerance of alcohol in ALL countries. As alcohol affects everyone differently, there can be no safe level.

All fine have a 50% reduction for prompt payment.

The Guardia no longer accept cash. You have to pay by credit card on the spot or online later.

That pretty well takes care of the corruption risk apart from the slim chance of bribing them to forget it but that is highly risky if they charge you with attempted bribery.

The new plans, under discussion, include breathalyzing pedestrians! Explanation on my blog here.

perhaps that explains why my local solicitor, well known for driving his motorbike round the place without a helmet has had the police sitting near his offices lately.
can't miss them and his offices are under his flat. and he used to drive to work from one street to the next

That'll keep them busy in Magaluf, then!

Pity the poor pensioner with a bad throat who has just knocked back half a bottle of cough syrup.

Just make sure it's alcohol free, simples..

An uncle of mine was driving his car, and he parked it in a public car park, a Policeman got out of his car and walked over, my uncle saw him and started to run (idiot), he was caught, and breathalysed and over the limit ( the policeman just wanted to tell him one of his side lights wasn't working), he said he would plead not gulity, so had a court case. On the trial day he changed his plea to guilty, and got the one year ban, in mitigation he claimed he had a bd cough and had been drinking some of his mothers home made cough remedy, which was almost all alcohol!! The police officers stopped him and thanked him for ruining their day off, they should have been on holiday, but had had to come in to give evidence, but weren't needed due to the guilty plea.

There's been a "zero alcohol" law in Sweden for as long as I can remember but as I understand it, it still makes allowance for a miniscule alcohol reading which may have been the result of medication or some other factor of which the driver may not have been aware.
Therefore strictly speaking it is not zero alcohol at all.

Endogenous ethanol production is the term for alcohol produced naturally within the body. Depending on the diet and other factors, up to about one ounce of pure alcohol can be produced within the body each day. That amount equals almost two standard drinks of beer, wine or liquor.

Try explaining that one to plod when you're just over the limit.

A test case in Court could be interesting.

Could the equivalent of 2 standard drinks produced internally put someone over the limit, or a new lower limit, in the absence of any food on the stomach ?