Europe-Wide Drug and Alcohol Road Checks Begin Monday

Poland's Numbers Tell a Striking Story
Poland is one of the most active participants in this kind of operation, and the scale of its sobriety testing is remarkable even by European standards. In 2025 alone, Polish police carried out 17.9 million alcohol checks on drivers — up from 16 million the previous year. Only Estonia recorded a higher number. Most other EU countries don't come close.

The legal framework backing those checks is also notably tough. Poland sets its permissible blood alcohol limit at just 0.2 per mille, well below the 0.5 per mille threshold used in countries like Portugal, Spain, and France. Going above 0.5 per mille in Poland is not treated as a minor offense — it is classified as a crime. For those caught with 1.5 per mille or more, the consequences are severe: courts can order the forfeiture of the vehicle itself or demand payment of an equivalent sum. Since those rules came into effect in March 2024, nearly 13,600 vehicles have been seized by the end of 2025.

The Real Picture on Polish Roads
There is a common assumption that Polish roads are plagued by drunk drivers, but the data paints a more nuanced picture. A pan-European study by Trendline, conducted with support from the European Parliament, found that among countries carrying out random sobriety checks, Poland had the highest share of drivers testing within the legal limit — 99.8%. Switzerland came in at 99.6%, while Belgium recorded 98.6%. By that measure, Polish drivers are among the most law-abiding in Europe when it comes to alcohol.

That said, the problem has not disappeared. Data from the National Police Headquarters shows that in 2025, drivers under the influence caused 1,174 road accidents across Poland. Those crashes left 137 people dead and 1,450 injured. In relative terms, drunk driving accounted for 5.6% of all accidents, 8.3% of all road fatalities, and 5.9% of all injuries recorded that year. Progress has been made, but the cost of the remaining cases is still very real — and this week's operation is a reminder that European authorities are not letting up.