Stamping Out Drunk Driving

Croatia gets a tough new law to combat traffic deaths. by Zeljka Vujcic 20 August 2004 ZAGREB, Croatia--Drivers in Croatia have been enjoying the last carefree summer evenings sipping beer or wine on beaches and outdoor cafes. On 20 August, a tough new law introduces a zero-tolerance approach to alcohol on the roads.

The new law on road safety was adopted by parliament on 16 July and abolishes the previous 0.05 percent alcohol limit. It has split public opinion in this tourism-oriented country.

The conservative government justified the law by saying it had to take radical measures in order to stop the rising death toll on Croatian roads.

Prime Minister Ivo Sanader pointed to statistics showing that in the first seven months of 2004, 339 people had died in road accidents in Croatia. Since 1991, when the country declared independence from the former Yugoslavia, 11,500 have died on its roads.

"If this trend continues, the number of victims would soon be equal to the number of victims of the Homeland war," Sanader said in parliament on 14 July, referring to the 1991-1995 war that claimed an estimated 20,000 lives.

"We have to send a strong message: if you drink, don't drive and if you drive, don't drink. I am fully behind this even if someone told me I’d lose the elections over it," he said.

In 2003, 13 percent of all traffic accidents were related to alcohol; in the capital Zagreb, that number stands at around 20 percent. Among the other leading causes of accidents are speeding and inexperience, often in combination.

Until now, the Interior Ministry has tried to fight the bleak statistics with an aggressive campaign involving television spots and billboards showing the effects of drunk driving with messages like "He was only 18."

UNHAPPY TOURISM AND WINE INDUSTRIES

But some opposition parties and representatives of the tourism and wine industries attacked the law as imprudent in the face of tough competition for European tourists.

The law, they argue, would be damaging to the image the country is trying to convey. It is advertising its pristine Adriatic coast with the slogan "the Mediterranean as it once was," suggesting a laid-back lifestyle that seems inseparable from good food and wines.

Croatia is one of Europe’s top tourist destinations this year. Official estimates expect revenues from tourism to reach $8.5 billion by the end of this year, and almost 5 million tourists are thought to have visited the country between January and July.

Even the powerful Catholic Church stepped into the heated public debate and criticized the drastic measures, describing them as "impossible to carry out."

"During the Mass, priests have to drink a certain amount of consecrated wine. That means that every priest who sits behind the wheel after Mass would be in conflict with the law," Bishop Antun Skvorcevic said in a letter on 14 July addressed to Sanader and parliament. Skvorcevic is the president of the Croatian Council of Bishops’ liturgical council.

"We believe that the 0.03 or 0.05 percent limit in force in most European countries would not be detrimental to the safety on our roads if enough attention were given to other, crucial elements of road safety and if the law were consistently applied," Skvorcevic wrote.

Deputies from the opposition far-right Croatian Party of Rights, the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS), and several smaller parties also argued that up to 0.05 percent alcohol would not substantially affect drivers' abilities.

However, the main opposition parties--the Social Democratic Party and the Croatian Peasants' Party--did not object to the new regulations. In fact, Sanader had more trouble convincing deputies from his own party, the Croatian Democratic Union.

In order to avoid problems in the middle of the tourist season, lawmakers agreed that the law should come into effect at the end of August.

Public concern has been growing ever since. Some experts even explained that drivers should abstain not only from drinking but also from sweets if they wanted to stay within the zero-alcohol limit. A few pieces of chocolate with liquor or large quantities of fruits, like peaches, can result in traces of alcohol in blood, they warned.

The new law also imposes drastic fines. Those with up to 0.05 percent alcohol in their blood would be fined 1,500 kunas ($250), and those with over 1.5 percent would face a 3,000-kunas fine ($500) and the suspension of their driver’s license.

INTRODUCING DRASTIC FINES

Stricter regulations were also introduced for other traffic violations, with fines of up to 3,000 kunas for reckless driving.

Drivers holding their licenses for less than two years are prohibited from driving cars with more-powerful-than-average engines. Regardless of their age, such drivers will be allowed to drive after 11 p.m. only in the presence of a person older than 25 who has had a clean driving record for more than two years.

Under the new law, a driver who commits two serious offenses over a period of two years could face a 60-day jail term.

The head of the tourism department of the Croatian chamber of commerce is unimpressed. "I think this was a completely wrong decision, and it is obvious that sooner or later we will have to return to the previous threshold since all our main competitors in the tourism market have more liberal regulations," Ante Mihic said.

The chamber, along with associations of wine producers and hospitality businesses, called on the government to amend the new legislation by reintroducing the 0.05 percent alcohol limit. They pointed to the fact that most European countries have a 0.05 percent limit, with Ireland, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom tolerating up to 0.08 percent.

So far, only some Eastern European countries--the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia--have introduced zero tolerance.

"It is not people who may have had a glass of wine after a good lunch that cause accidents, but mostly drunk youngsters returning from clubbing on Saturday nights. Many accidents are also due to bad roads," Mihic said.

"Our wine producers have invested so much in the past years and now that we have built a new image of the country with excellent wines we have this decision, which in a way destroys our culture of eating and drinking," he argued.

The Association of Croatian Restaurant Owners went even further, urging the government to increase the alcohol limit to 0.08 percent. It backed up its request by saying the measure could put a dent in Croatia’s coffers.

The association calculated that if an average of 500,000 Croatian drivers and 100,000 tourists throughout the year were denied one glass of wine every day, the government would lose 2.6 billion kunas (350 million euros) annually.

Restaurant owners along the coast are already complaining that despite an upswing in tourism, an entire population of tourists, mostly from ex-communist countries, was crowding the beaches while avoiding restaurants and bars.

An average Hungarian, Czech, or Polish tourist can hardly afford the rising Croatian prices, with a coffee costing as much as 20 kunas (2.7 euros) in some places. Some Croats say openly that they prefer traditionally good customers, like Italians.

On Monday, the IDS--the strongest party in the tourist region of Istria--called for a postponement of the new law and urged a fresh debate in the parliament.

IDS deputy president Damir Kajin said on national television, "The government should give up because this measure is both unenforceable and harmful. The law cannot have as its aim to introduce police terror or prohibition or simply invent more revenues for the budget."

But regardless of the new law, few believe that Croats will give up their customary glass of wine at lunch.

“A glass of wine is part of our gastronomic tradition. When people come for lunch in a restaurant it is very hard to expect that they would drink water after eating fish," Mihic concluded.