Only 11 out of the 1,832 drivers that were stopped during road checks on New Year’s Eve were subject to an Analytical Breathalyzer Test, the police have confirmed with The Malta Independent.

Approximately 12,000 vehicles passed through the control checks which were put in place over the night of 31 December 2017 and the morning of 1 January 2018, however, as was revealed through a police statement that was published on New Year’s Day, none of the 1,832 drivers that were stopped for an inspection were found to be driving under the influence of alcohol.

Nine people were booked for driving without a valid license, while 15 were fined for not wearing a seat belt.

Police from the traffic section and from the Administrative Law Enforcement and dogs section carried out inspections in several locations around Malta, including Baħar iċ-Ċaghaq, Burmarrad, Santa Luċija, Għaxaq, l-Senglea, Cospicua, Luqa, Mosta, Naxxar, Iklin, Marsascala, Salini and Paceville.

A police spokesperson told the newsroom that during the road checks 1,832 persons displayed behavioural indicators, 577 persons showed visual and olfactory indicators, and 208 persons showed motor coordination indicators.

In spite of the ‘indicators’, police only used a breathalyser test on 11 occasions.

“It has to be pointed out that breathalyzer tests cannot be performed at random and necessitate the forensic level of reasonable suspicion to be performed as detailed by law,” the police spokesperson said.

 “These systems have been used in a similar manner as in previous years, with the benefit of additional instruction to Traffic Branch personnel of systems used throughout the different Traffic Policing agencies of the European Union.

“Given the above numbers as well as the enhanced methods of detection, it was positively noted that the message of road safety is finally hitting home, not only in the absence of persons driving above the legal breath alcohol limits but also in the driving standard in general on the night in question.”