Exit operation: this can happen if you drive drunk

The DGT forecasts 14.6 million journeys at Easter and, therefore, has launched a special surveillance campaign from April 8. According to their estimates —taken from the algorithmic analysis of 10 million claims—, there will be 36 fatalities in the 10 days they plan to travel. Alcohol statistically increases the risk of having an accident by up to 200%. However, these figures are not enough to put the consequences in perspective. For this reason, the Association for the Prevention of Traffic Accidents (Aesleme) has presented in Spain the ‘Wrong Side of the Road’ initiative created by the UN. In it, drivers will be able to take a test on the consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol and see three testimonies of people who have suffered accidents as a result of it. This interactive interview format allows for greater emotional involvement, essential for responsible decision making, rather than keeping statistics in mind. One, for example, lost his arm after driving home after drinking with friends. “He wasn’t even drunk, and the path was the same one he had walked a thousand times,” he says in the interview. Once completed, the user will receive an accrediting diploma, and for each completed one, the Unitar training center in Malaga will donate one euro to Aesleme. The objective on the part of the City Council is to reach 7,500 people until June 10. In the coming weeks, face-to-face talks will be held at training centers, activities to prevent occupational risks due to traffic in companies, conferences at the University of Malaga and educational centers, as well as a set of activities planned during the VI World Road Safety Week, to be held in mid-May. In a recent study by the Mutua Madrileña Foundation, it was concluded that the mortality of men is significantly higher than that of women at the wheel and that 71.3% of those hospitalized due to traffic accidents they are male. This relationship, moreover, has remained unchanged between the years that frame the study (2008 and 2019), despite the fact that the number of female drivers has increased by 10.5% in those 11 years. From this it can be deduced that men are much more likely to engage in risky behavior when getting behind the wheel, among which driving under the influence of alcohol stands out —in low amounts it increases courage— or using a mobile phone.