More Than 8,000 Drug Drivers Taken Off the Road Last Year

However, due to increased control pressure and a focus in police training, the number of reports has also increased significantly: in 2024, 8,227 impaired vehicle drivers were pulled over. Compared to the year 2015, the reports of impairment due to drugs while driving (or refusal of control) have "increased eightfold".

Significant Increase

Because ten years ago, only 1,068 reports had been filed, the Ministry of the Interior reported on Tuesday. And since 2020, after a reform of the training at the Federal Police, there has been a doubling.

Austria's police are now "pioneers in detecting and punishing" drug influence at the wheel with a dense network of specially trained police officers. "Grid squares" have been carried out for several years in cooperation with public health doctors and physicians from the country's doctor pools. "Particularly relevant are focus settings in the environment of festivals or concerts. High control pressure can also be expected here in the future", the department said.

"More Specialists and More Focused Controls Mean More Drug Drivers Caught"

"Protecting people, that is the mission of our police. Therefore, drug and alcohol drivers, but also life-threatening speeders are consistently pulled over - this is the focus of the control measures", emphasized Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP).

A solid training for the detection of drug impairments in road traffic has brought "knowledge paired with technology" to the streets. The result can be seen in the report statistics: "More specialists and more focused controls mean more drug drivers caught."

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.