Alcohol is not the “guilty party” in a traffic accident. It is the person who sits behind the wheel intoxicated and causes the accident that is responsible.
The Slovenian Traffic Safety Agency warns that it is wrong to believe that a hearty meal can ease the consequences of alcohol consumption. Food only causes a delay and intoxication is revealed later. Nor can fresh air and movement in the open air nullify the effects of consumed alcohol.
Excuses that other people convinced us to drink, that the drive home is very short or that we have not drunk so much that we cannot drive in no
way contribute to better safety on our roads.
Up to the end of November 2021, alcohol abuse had led to 1,277 traffic accidents, 631 bodily injuries (of which 96 were severe), and 33 fatalities.
The majority of fatal traffic accidents were caused by drivers of cars and single-track motor vehicles. All persons responsible for fatal traffic accidents were men, primarily those between 45 – 54 and 55 and 64 years of age, while two traffic accident fatalities were caused by drunk adolescents aged 15 and 16. The average level of intoxication among all persons responsible for fatal traffic accidents under the influence of alcohol was 1.39 per mille. The infamous “record holder” among them had 3.14 per mille in his blood.
The calculation based on data from 2019 and 2020 reveals that every twelfth traffic accident and every third fatal traffic accident is caused by intoxicated traffic participants.
