Virginia Jerez, the Provincial Head of Traffic, said that 49% of drivers who died on urban and interurban roads in the Region of Murcia in 2024 had been drinking and using drugs. She made this statement during the launch of a special campaign to control and monitor the use of these substances while driving, which runs from today until next Sunday, December 21st.
“Nineteen of the thirty-nine dead drivers tested positive. 30 of them perished on intercity routes, and 15 of them (50%) tested positive for these drugs. Virginia Jerez said, “On urban roads, nine drivers died, and four of them (44%) had also used drugs or alcohol.” This shows how important this new effort is.
The “Global Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030 Plan” suggests a “integrated safe systems approach” that sees “safe road use” as a key part of the goal to cut the number of road deaths in half by the end of the decade. One of the suggested steps for safe road use that Jerez stressed was “setting blood alcohol concentration limits to stop dangerous driving.”
During this time, the Guardia Civil’s Traffic Group (ATGC) will work with the municipal police forces that join the effort to keep an eye on traffic and make sure people aren’t drinking and doing drugs on the roadways.
“This campaign to monitor and enforce is very important to help lower high-risk behaviours among people who use the road, which puts their own lives and the lives of other road users at risk.” The Provincial Head of Traffic said, “To this end, 232 officers from the Traffic Group of the Guardia Civil will do about 6,700 checks.”
Working together with city councils
The Provincial Traffic Headquarters has asked the 45 municipalities in the Region of Murcia to join the campaign by setting up checkpoints on their own urban roadways. The goal is to stop people from using these drugs while driving on all sorts of roads.
The Provincial Traffic Headquarters has given this area tools to make the roads safer. Specifically, this includes 27 evidentiary breathalyzers supplied to the local police forces of various towns, and 45 digital or indicative breathalyzers also donated to the local police forces of other municipalities.
In addition, 4,745 drug kits have been sent to different local police units since 2020. In 2025 alone, 1,085 kits were sent out.
Results of the most recent campaign for drug and alcohol control and surveillance
The Traffic Division of the Guardia Civil in Murcia tested 9,858 drivers’ breath on the region’s intercity routes from July 14 to 20, 2025. Of these, 122 were positive, which is 1.24% of the total. There were 368 tests for drugs on drivers, and 124 of them came back positive (34%).
This campaign included 27 cities and towns that checked 2,607 drivers and gave out 48 tickets for drinking and driving (1.84%). There were 145 drug tests, and 17 people were cited (22%).
Regarding preventative inspections, the Murcia Traffic Sector, up to November 30, 2025, carried out a total of 174,682 alcohol tests, with 2,115 positive results, or 1.21% of the total. The Traffic Division of the Guardia Civil (ATGC) has done a total of 5,039 drug tests, and 1,685 of them came back positive, which is 33.44% of the total.
Author: Derek Appleton
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