This Sunday, January 1, the Zero Alcohol Law will come into force throughout the province. The norm approved by the Buenos Aires Legislature eliminates the permitted degree of 500 milligrams of alcohol per liter of blood for drivers and stipulates various penalties such as the retention of the license, fines and even arrest for those who fail to comply with it.
From the very beginning of next year, Buenos Aires will join other provinces such as Chaco, Chubut, Córdoba, Entre Ríos, Jujuy, La Rioja, Río Negro, Salta, Santa Cruz, Tierra del Fuego and Tucumán, where similar laws already apply. However, the provincial authorities announced that on New Year’s Eve Those who drive with a rate of up to 499 milligrams of alcohol per liter of blood will not be penalized with fines.
As clarified in the Buenos Aires Ministry of Transportation, the first infraction will be penalized only with the attendance and approval of special courses. That is to say that those who are caught driving even with a minimum proportion of alcohol in their blood will not be infracted but their driver’s license will be withheld preventively.
THE SANCTIONS
The penalties provided for by law have different degrees of application according to the levels of alcohol in the blood detected. The norm indicates that those who drive with values of up to 499 milligrams of alcohol per liter of blood will receive three months of disqualification from driving. If the alcohol level is between 500 and 999 milligrams, the penalty will be six months.
Meanwhile, people who circulate with rates between 1,000 and 1,500 milligrams of alcohol per liter of blood will be disabled for 18 months. Finally, those who exceed 1,500 milligrams will not be able to drive for a period of 18 months.
In Argentina, alcohol is present in one in four road accidents and is the leading cause of death for children under 35, according to official data. During 2022, there were 6,162 drink-driving offenses on routes, streets, and roads in the province of Buenos Aires, according to the annual report of the Road Safety Observatory of the Buenos Aires Ministry of Transportation.
