Congress approves lowering of alcohol breathalyzer test legal limit to 0.2 g/l

Accoring to the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), driving under the influence of alcohol is one of the main risk factors associated with traffic accidents in Spain. According to the DGT, it is estimated that alcohol is involved in between 30% and 50% of fatal accidents in the country.

For this reason, in September the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, announced that the reduction of the blood alcohol limit to 0.2 g/l would be studied and a non-legislative proposal was approved on October 10 in the Congress of Deputies, although it should be noted that the measure will not come into force immediately.

In order to carry out this change in the blood alcohol level, it will be necessary to modify the text that appears in Article 20 of the General Traffic Regulations (RGC) which details permitted blood and exhaled air alcohol levels in Spain.

Before the RGC can be modified, there must be consensus among the different parliamentary forces, which already exists in the non-law proposal, and an extraordinary Decree Law must be issued by the Spanish Government. Therefore, it would be necessary to wait until well into next year for the blood alcohol limit of 0.2 g/l to become a reality on the roads of Spain.

Article 20 of the RGC specifies that vehicle drivers and bicycle riders with a blood alcohol level of more than 0.5 grams per litre, or an alcohol level in exhaled air of more than 0.25 milligrams per litre, may not circulate on roads covered by the legislation on traffic, circulation of motor vehicles and road safety.

Furthermore, the same article also specifies that the limit is lowered to 0.15 mg/l in exhaled air and 0.3 g/l in blood in the case of a novice driver, that is, during the two years following obtaining their driving licence or professional licence.

The Spanish Penal Code establishes in Article 379.2 that driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcoholic beverages is a crime when “the alcohol level in exhaled air exceeds 0.60 milligrams per litre or the alcohol level in the blood exceeds 1.2 grams per litre”.

Furthermore, the same article establishes that “it will be punished with a prison sentence of three to six months or a fine of six to twelve months or community service of thirty-one to ninety days, and, in any case, with the deprivation of the right to drive motor vehicles and mopeds for a period of more than one and up to four years.”

When the new lower levels come into force some time in 2025, Spain will have one of the lowest legal limits in Europe. According to a 2021 study by the European Transport Safety Council, the current legal limit of 0.5 mg/l is the same as the likes of France, Germany, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands. Lowering the limit will bring the country in line with the likes of Norway and Sweden whilst many Eastern European countries such as Czechia, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have zero tolerance to drink driving. The United Kingdom’s legal limit is 0.8 mg/l.