Driving Drunk: Legal Limits vary by Country in Europe

Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.

Unfortunately, drinking and driving in Europe is not so much about the law but about attitude and coolness.

In Britain, it is no longer cool to drink and drive and a designated driver is a must - Britain is the European exception. In France, where I live, no one gives a second thought to drinking and driving - apart from an odd look at the hapless person who might mention it. In fact, on Saturday nights, I refuse to drive, period. If I go out, I make sure I'm home before 10pm, or I spend the night wherever I'm going.

The French have a custom of placing flowers or a small monument or cross along the road whenever someone is killed. I live in a rural region, with small roads and not a lot of traffic, and this is what my road network looks like leaving from my village outwards in various directions.
15 km (9 mi) stretch: two flower arrangements
10 km stretch: one cross, one flower bouquet
15 km stretch: 4 flower arrangements, one cross
10 km stretch: 2 flower arrangements

Usually, each marker is more than one death. None of these were out when I moved here four years ago.

I don't know how many people have to die before the link between drinking and driving has been made here - clearly, more than have so far.

Scribetrotter
http://www.women-on-the-road.com

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.