One in ten road accidents in Belgium involves at least one driver who consumed too much alcohol, according to data from the Vias Institute, cited by Het Nieuwsblad on Wednesday.
Eight in ten of these drivers had a blood alcohol level exceeding one promille at the time of the accident, according to the road safety institute. More than half even surpassed 1.5 promille, based on an analysis of accidents from 2019 to 2023.
For an average man weighing 75kg, 1.5 promille is equivalent to around 10 drinks within less than three hours.
The drivers involved in accidents with less than one promille of alcohol in their bloodstream account for only a small portion of the accidents.
In 2023, a record alcohol level of 4.58 promille was recorded in the province of Antwerp.
