Lisbon, Nov. 3, 2025 (Lusa) - The campaign to raise awareness of the risks of drink-driving "Zero Rate at the Wheel" kicks off on Tuesday in mainland Portugal and the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira, the authorities have announced.

The initiative, which runs until the 10th, involves the Autoridade Nacional de Segurança Rodoviária (ANSR), the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) and the Polícia de Segurança Pública (PSP), with enforcement operations especially on roads and accesses with a high flow of traffic, contributing to a reduction in accidents and the adoption of safe behaviour.

At the same time, ANSR is organising awareness-raising activities in Andrães, Vila Real district (Tuesday), Chaves (Wednesday), Pombal (Thursday) and Alcobaça (Friday), Leiria district, and in Tunes, Silves municipality, Faro district (on the 10th).

In today's press release, the authorities point out that in Portugal, in 2023, one in four drivers who died in road accidents had a blood alcohol level of 0.5 g/l or more and three in four had a level of 1.2 g/l or more (considered a criminal offence).

Of all the road accident victims autopsied, 23% had a blood alcohol level higher than the legally permitted limit, of which 73% exceeded the level considered a crime.

The ANSR, GNR and PSP remind us that driving under the influence of alcohol is a risk for everyone and emphasise that with a blood alcohol level of 0.5 g/l, the risk of suffering a serious or fatal accident doubles.

They explain that alcohol reduces the visual field, causing so-called "tunnel vision", and this loss of ability, as well as changes in behaviour, which can lead to states of euphoria and disinhibition, increases the risk of being involved in road accidents.

SO/ADB // ADB.

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