- In total, there are already 2,125 drug kits delivered by the DGT to the municipalities of the Region of Murcia
June 13, 2023. The delegate of the Government, Caridad Rives, and the Provincial Head of Traffic, Virginia Jerez, have delivered this morning to three municipalities of the Region of Murcia 680 index kits for the control of drug consumption in the urban area, which add to the more than 1,445 provided to the municipal area since 2016.
“The goal is clear, and it is zero tolerance for alcohol and drug use while driving, because statistics show us that the percentage of deaths who had consumed alcohol or drugs while driving on both urban and interurban roads is excessively high,” explained Rives.
Rives and Jerez have delivered the drug tests to the representatives of the local police of the municipalities of Alguazas, 25 units, Archena, 100 units, Beniel (25 units), Blanca (50 units), Caravaca de la Cruz (30 units), Cartagena (46 units), Las Torres de Cotillas (50 units), La Unión (25 units), Los Alcázares (40 units), Mazarrón (25 units), Murcia (200 units), San Javier (24 units) and Santomera (40 units), which together with the previous installments of 2,125 years.
“It is a question of reducing the consumption of toxins at the wheel by providing means of control to traffic surveillance agents in urban roads, since the treatment of these risky behaviors requires a comprehensive approach and cooperation between the different administrations. For the part of Jefatura, the possibility of cession was offered to the 45 municipalities, responding with the delivery of these 680 kits to the consistories that showed interest,” added the Provincial Traffic Chief.
In the last alcohol and drug control and surveillance campaign, in December 2022, of the total of 9,047 vehicles controlled throughout the Region, 4,038 were controlled by local police in the 24 municipalities that joined the campaign.
- The Traffic Sector of the Civil Guard of Murcia has carried out in the interurban roads of our Region a total of 5,009 alcohol tests to drivers, with the result of 45 positives, which represents 0.89% of the total.
- As for drugs, a total of 53 tests have been carried out on drivers, with the result of 20 positives (37.73%).
It should be noted that this work is not only carried out during the aforementioned campaigns, but is a state that is maintained throughout the year, and thus, in interurban roads, during the past year 175,558 alcohol tests were carried out, with 2,929 positives (1.67%). With regard to drug use, in the same year 659 tests were carried out, of which 41% were positive.
The training of the agents of the authority who have to apply the sanctioning regulations to the infringing behaviors linked to the consumption of alcohol and drugs is fundamental, not only because they have to be aware of the procedures to be followed in the realization of the tests, but because they are the channel of awareness to the citizen, since they will inform the driver of the obligation to undergo the drug test and of the realization of the same. Refusal is a crime that carries a prison sentence of 6 months to 1 year and, deprivation of the right to drive for 1 to 4 years.
According to the report of the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences (INTCF) of 2021, drug consumption is observed an upward trend that reaches an increase of 8.6% compared to the year 2012 and that increases slightly (1.2%) with respect to the year 2020 (Covid year).
In this collaborative area, the Institute of Legal Medicine of Murcia provides Traffic Headquarters with the result of toxicological analysis of people who died due to traffic accidents in the Region of Murcia for purely statistical purposes since 2013.
From the data analyzed, it is concluded that 57% of the deceased drivers on interurban roads in 2022 drove under the effects of alcohol and/or drugs, a percentage that is repeated in deceased pedestrians. The same X-ray in the urban area indicates that 71% of the deceased drivers had consumed alcohol and/or drugs, there being no deceased pedestrian who had consumed the aforementioned substances.
The trend continues in 2023, both on the interurban and urban roads, since drivers who died on the interurban roads with positive toxicological analysis represent 54% and on the urban roads 67%.
All this highlights the relevance of the actions carried out jointly by the Administrations in order to achieve the objective of 0 deaths on the roads and of consumption 00 at the wheel.