Drink drive campaign on Saturday

PALMA council will launch a campaign against drinking and driving on Saturday in the Paseo Maritimo as part of the programme “Alternative driver”.
This was announced jointly by the councillor for Social Services, Margalida Ferrando; the councillor for Health and Consumer Affairs, Begoña Moragues; the regional Drug Dependency coordinator, Bartomeu Jaume; and the director of the Alcohol and Society Foundation, Jaime Gil Robles. Moragues said that this initiative will be carried out between midnight on Saturday and 4am on Sunday morning by 10 volunteers from the council's Voluntary Agency and others from the Red Cross, who will inform young people in the area of the importance of choosing an alternative driver when they go out drinking. This driver is someone who will not drink and will take the responsibility for driving the others home. Ferrando, for his part, said that the council's collaboration in this initiative was part of the Town Plan for Drug Dependency which is directed mainly at young people. Gil Robles explained that young people who want to take part in this initiative should give their driving licence to one of the volunteer. The volunteer will give them a “passport” which gives them the opportunity to take part in four succesive alcohol test during the night. If any one of these tests proves positive, the “passport” is taken away, but if they pass all the tests they will be given a petrol voucher for 20 euros, which they can spend in the Plaza Progres petrol station. Two cars which have suffered accidents will be placed in the area, “so the young people can see the consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol”, he said.