With a blood alcohol level of 2.32 – which translates into over four times over the legal limit – a 33-year-old driver was found driving in the wrong direction on the A16 motorway near Cascais in the early hours of Sunday morning… and allowed home.
Ordered to appear before magistrates today (Monday), the young man did not cause any accidents. A GNR source explained this was because there were very few people on the road at the time.
Still, the incident that could have sparked yet another road tragedy, has seen the driver accused of driving under the effects of alcohol and dangerous driving.
He faces a possible jail term of up to a year or a fine, and he could be banned from driving for a period of between three months to three years.
The GNR has stressed this is just one of the arrests made as a result of the traffic command’s Operation Hermes, ongoing nationally until midnight tonight and involving 3000 agents “particularly on the watch for dangerous driving and excess alcohol”.
According to data so far, this year’s Hermes – the annual police check on holidaymakers returning home – has registered one death, 205 injuries and 531 accidents.
