Drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol will face stronger punishments, warns the Justice Ministry.
The justice minister, Morten Bødskov (S), said that the new strategy will target repeat offenders in particular.
“There is no excuse to drive a car in an intoxicated state,” Bødskov said, adding that alcohol was involved in 25 percent of all car accidents in 2010 and 2011. “The government wants to halve the number of people killed and injured in traffic by 2020 and we will therefore continue to target people who don’t accept that drugs and alcohol cannot be mixed with traffic.”
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The government will make it easier for police to confiscate the vehicles of intoxicated drivers and will also allow police to temporarily confiscate driving licences from people if there is a risk they will get behind the wheel of a car directly after blood testing for drugs and alcohol.
New tools, stricter rules
People caught driving while intoxicated on drugs will also have to take a special course to earn their licence again, in the same way that drunk drivers do.
The strategy will increase the police’s focus on apprehending intoxicated drivers by making more routine stops of drivers on the road.
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To help the police identify and follow drivers who are potentially under the influence, police will be given a computer tool to analyse which drivers are likely to be repeat offenders.
