According to the study, the preferred time to consume alcohol at company gatherings is during the dinner itself (61%), followed by the aperitif that precedes these gatherings (48%) and at a later time (26%), when mixed drinks are usually chosen. Thus, 22% of those interviewed who consume alcohol do so at two of these times and around 7% at all three.
By type of drink, the most common are beer, wine or similar, and to a lesser extent, spirits or mixed drinks. Seven per cent of those who chose the latter option admit to having consumed more than three drinks. The regions with the highest percentage of drivers who admit to driving at this time of year after drinking alcohol are Cantabria (25%), the Valencian Community (24.8%) and the Balearic Islands (24.5%), while Castile and León (8.2%), La Rioja (8.8%) and Castile-La Mancha (10.3%) have the lowest figures. The national average is 18.6% of motorists.
According to official data from the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Sciences (INTCF), 34% of drivers killed in traffic accidents in 2024 tested positive for alcohol; 23% had a criminal blood alcohol level (1.2 g/l); and 22% of all drivers who died and tested positive for substances had combined alcohol with the consumption of drugs, psychotropic drugs or both at the same time.
On the other hand, according to data from the DGT, the Traffic Group of the Guardia Civil carried out 5.6 million preventive alcohol checks during the last year for which data is available. Of these, 1.2% were positive, a significant figure. Finally, 65% of drivers admit that they do not use their car after drinking for fear of penalties or having an accident, and 96% believe that these penalties are justified, although 35% also attribute them to a certain desire to raise revenue.
