British tourist involved in drunk driving

A British tourist was suspected this month of drunk driving while in Portugal, according to Portuguese media reports. Portugal News Online reported that a 49 year old British tourist allegedly drove around 30km with his wife with a blood alcohol level of 1.3g/L. To make matter even worse, the man is said to have been driving with a concussion. Portuguese police, however, were not able to charge the man with drunk driving, despite the fact that the breathalyser test suggested that he had consumed a very large quantity of alcohol before getting behind the wheel. The problem for police was that when they caught the man, he was simply “resting” in his car, near the side of the road.

Police were not even sure what type of incident they were dealing with when they first found the man, since he appeared wounded and had blood all over his clothing. The driver’s wife later revealed that the man had been struck at a pub, during a heated exchange. Although the couple first tried to visit a local clinic in order to receive medical attention, doctors there told them that they should go to the Faro Hospital instead, as some of the injuries that the man sustained appeared to be quite serious. The British tourist was very fortunate, however, that police caught up with him when he was parked at the side of the road, as they were not able to charge him with drunk driving. A conviction would have resulted in a jail sentence of up to one year.

Thank you to Portugal Online for the initial report.