The DGT has invested in the provision of 10,000 drug testing kits which it will give to local police forces around the country in order for them to better monitor local roads for drivers under the influence of drugs.
The kits will be shared with 100 municipalities across 15 provinces where 450 officers have also been trained in their use. The overall goal is to reduce the consumption of drugs and narcotics at the wheel and thus improve road safety on urban roads.
Under the agreement with local authorities, the police will be required to carry out at least 20,000 drugs tests in 2016.
The latest statistics for urban and local roads, collated from data in 2014, show that 61% of all injury incidents and 26% of all deaths on the roads occurred in the areas policed by the local authorities. In addition, 4,740 people were hospitalised.
These figures show that incidents with victims in urban areas still account for a significant percentage of road incidents in Spain, and so the DGT is widening its overall enforcement campaign to take in these roads and thus reduce the number of incidents.