Objective

To increase the social awareness of the risks related to driving under the influence of alcohol and of the consequences of such actions.

Description

Background to the problem

Drink driving is again becoming an important issue in Poland due to a rising number of drink drivers.  Conclusions from Supreme Audit Office’s analysis based on the Report of the National Police Headquarters on road accidents in Poland in 2020:

• In 2017, only one in 160 tested drivers was drunk, in 2020 it was already one in 70 persons (nearly 99,000 in total). Since 2011, the number of drunkdrivers has gone up over 5 times.
• In 2013, to comply with the EU principles, Poland adopted the National Road Safety Programme 2013– An objective by 2020 was the maximum of 6,900 persons severely injured and 2,000 fatalities.  This objective was not met.  In 2020, the number of fatalities totalled about 2,500 which was about 25% more than assumed in the Programme.  At the same time, the number of severely injured reached about 8,800 which was approximately 28% more against the Programme assumptions.  The tightening of sanctions in 2015 and 2018 against drunk drivers and the ones who caused road accidents while being drunk proved ineffective.
• In 2017-2020, nearly 26,000 persons were charged in the first instance for drink or drug driving.
• In 80% of cases persons charged in the first instance for drink driving, had blood alcohol content higher than 25mg per 1 dm³, which means that they committed serious (rather than minor) misconduct. It needs to be stressed that over 87% of sentences for crimes against traffic safety are related to drink or drug driving or causing an accident in this condition.
• Since 2017, the share of drunk drivers in the total number of blood alcohol content tests more than
• The courts’ obligation to impose fines and their significant increase since 2015 for drink driving is not an effective tool to limit the number of drivers in that condition.

Campaign elements

• Social Media communications.
• Don’t drink&drive idea placement (internet portals and billboard).
• Workshops for alcohol sellers and for future drivers with information on don’t drink&drive. Each workshop lasts 2-3 hours.
• Materials: Videos, training books and leaflets.
• Other: delivering the campaign messages and results to key public stakeholders (dedicated newsletters); presenting the campaign in various publications like Responsible Business Forum Report; press information about taking actions.

Partners

Polish Police Headquarters

Polish Chamber of Trade

Polish Chamber of Commerce

National Road Safety Council

Results

120 media articles reached 200,000.  25 Facebook, 15 Instagram and 1 Youtube post reached 700,000.  2 videos were created, 800 training books printed and 10,000 leaflets printed.  60 venues have had a wrokshop, each with 1,200 participants.