Palma local police yesterday embarked on its annual crackdown on driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. At the presentation of the annual campaign, presided over by the councillor for citizen security, Angelica Pastor ,and the chief of the police, Josep Palouzie, it was revealed that, to date, seven per cent of drivers stopped and tested for alcohol or drugs this year have been over the limit. This is two per cent higher than last year, and the festive season has only just begun. The first wave of office parties across the island was taking place last night.
Pastor explained that this year the number of controls is going to be much greater than last year and that the checks will be far more rigorous. The campaign is going to continue until 8 January and spot checks are going to be thrown up across the island every day.
Pastor and Palouzie said that the campaign is not just aimed at catching drivers flouting the rules. A strong police presence on the roads will hopefully deter drivers from driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or a potentially fatal mixture of them both.
By the end of November, the police in Palma had attended 4,674 traffic accidents, 1,438 of which left victims in hospital with varrying degrees of injuries. Twenty extra police have been committed exclusively to boosting the number of traffic controls and extra officers have been placed on standby if needed. There are also going to be extra police on the beat in key commercial centres to keep an eye on illegal street trading and petty criminals.