Portugal toughens drunken-driving laws including lower limits, stiffer penalties
By Scott Schonauer,
Rota bureau
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain — If you visit one of Portugal’s cervejarias,
take a cab, find a designated driver or walk.
Just one cerveja or any other alcoholic beverage for the
road could get you in trouble.
Drivers in Portugal, including the Azores, will face some stiff
penalties as tough, new drunken-driving laws go into effect Oct. 1.
Air Force officials at Lajes Field in the Azores are warning military
personnel and their families about the changes. The base, on an island in the middle of
the Atlantic Ocean, will follow the law because the installation is controlled by the
Portuguese military.
Although Portuguese are known to have a glass of wine with almost
every meal, the new laws are among the toughest in Europe.
“I think actually your reaction is of surprise,” staff
attorney Lt. Adam Stoffa said.
The new guidelines will make it a crime to drive with a blood-alcohol
content of 0.02 grams per milliliter. The standard in most European countries is between
0.05 and 0.08. The threshold in the United States varies by state between .08 and .10.
That means a 150-pound man who drinks one beer in an hour could be
legally intoxicated. A person lighter on the scale won’t be able to finish a drink
before he or she is over the limit. Even a glass of wine with a meal could put a person at
risk.
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Roger Garcia with the Lajes-based 65th
Communications Squadron said he supports the law. He said navigating Terceira
Island’s narrow streets, which sometimes are shared with cattle, are challenging even
when sober.
“If you drink responsibly, why would you have to worry about
it?” he asked.
The new law is much lower than the 0.05 limit that has been on the
books since 1998. Fines and license suspensions are determined on different blood-alcohol
levels.
For example, a driver caught with a 0.02 BAC will face a fine between
$65 and $330, according to the new law. A motorist with 0.12 is charged with a felony
offense and could be sent to jail for a year.
Although drunken driving is not a chronic problem at Lajes Field,
Portuguese law enforcement charged three Americans last month with driving under the
influence, Stoffa said.
Portugal is one of the few countries with a zero tolerance policy
against drunken driving that dips below the 0.05 level. Sweden and Norway have enacted
laws with a 0.02 BAC with mixed results from citizens.
Most countries have laws that make it a crime to drive with a 0.08
BAC or higher.
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