Alcohol is an important risk factor in traffic. Data from roadside sobriety checks in European countries shows that 1–4% of general drivers population have BAC levels above the legal limit.

Some progress was made in European countries with regard to reducing the number of road fatalities with alcohol. Statistics show this number has dropped by 63% in the EU countries over the period 2008–2018, however this trend has slowed down.

There were 2750 fatalities in alcohol related accidents in the EU27 in 2018, in Poland 337 (12% of all alcohol related fatalities in the EU and 12% of all fatalities in PL). In Poland 9% of all accidents are due to alcohol. Countries with highest share of alcohol related fatalities in total road fatalities in 2018 were France, Portugal and Norway – above 25%.

Share of drivers tested with alcohol concentration above legal limit in PL was 4.9% in 2010 and decreased to 0.7% in 2019 (mean for 12 European countries is 3.2% and decreased to 2.3%, with UK having an increase to 8.9% in 2019).

There is a variety of legal sanctions for drink driving applied in European countries,i.e. fines, driving licence suspension, alcohol interlocks programmes,etc.

In Poland the authorities also search for new measures and solutions to combat this problem and maintain the positive trend by developing prevention policy, organize awareness campaigns, but also sobriety checks done by the police, special enforcement actions, health programmes at schools targeting alcohol consumption problem and changes in legal regulations and sanctions.