According to the European Transport Safety Council, the European Union populous consumes more alcohol than any other region of the world. It is estimated that around 25% of all traffic fatalities in the EU are alcohol related. This is actually lower than the estimated percentage of drunk driving related fatal accidents in North America, but the statistical difference may be explained by the fact that North America sees far more people driving longer distances than in Europe where public transportation abounds, where many people don’t even have a car, and if they do, their typical driving trips are generally cover far less distance than a driving trip on this continent.
Even so, drunk driving is an issue in Europe, just as it is here. And as on this side of the pond, attitudes towards drunk driving and stricter laws and enforcement have had an effect. Road deaths attributed to drunk driving have been on the decline in Europe, but that hasn’t save the thousands of lives that are lost each year in Europe after a drunk driving collision.
The European Transport Safety Council issued a report this year titled “Progress in Reducing Drink Driving in Europe.” (Drink driving being what we call drunk, or drunken, driving in this country.) The report is interesting for what it tells us about reducing drunk driving country by country.