‘Subjective risk of being caught in drink driving must be increased’

The subjective probability of being caught: that is the feeling that you can be caught. And that should go up when it comes to drink driving, say experts Nu.nl. In the past year, especially compared to 2021, quite a lot of fines were handed out for driving under the influence. Up to and including November, more than 40,000. No coincidence, because 2.6 percent of drivers get behind the wheel with a drink at the weekend. This has emerged from recent research by the Foundation for Scientific Research on Road Safety (SWOV). In 2017, that percentage was still 1.4 percent. At 19,000, the number of fines issued in that year was more than 50 percent lower in total.

More than 8 out of 10 drivers consider the chance of being caught driving under the influence to be very small. As a result, the threshold for breaking the rules is lower for some drivers. To increase the aforementioned subjective chance of being caught, the so-called ‘traps’ of the police must return. Various experts agree with Nu.nl on this. Since 2016, these traps are almost non-existent, because the police team does not have enough people for them.

Although the traps hardly increase the actual chance of being caught, they do act as a deterrent. The presence of a fish trap is known to the general public in no time, especially through social media. This makes them easy to avoid, but many people do know that there are checks. And that is exactly the intention. However, the chance that more traps will come is small. According to Nu.nl, the police continue to emphasize that there are alcohol checks, although there are too few staff to do this on a large scale and in a highly visible way.