September 2, 2019
In the small hours of last Thursday, security cameras on the littoral highway caught someone driving the wrong way from Postojna towards Kozina.
Detailed information about the incident leaked to public over the weekend, revealing not only that the driver was dead drunk but also who he was. Patrik Peroša, vice-Mayor of Koper, responsible for the development of sports and healthy lifestyle in the municipality, sat behind the wheel with an unbelievable 1.91 mg of alcohol per litre of exhaled air (or 0.92 g of alcohol per 1 kg of blood).
To get the idea of what the numbers mean, here is a scale of penalties a drunk person behind a wheel can face.
| Level of drunkenness | Fine in EUR | Licence penalty points (max 18 points in three years; 7 for young drivers) | Other sanctions |
| Up to 0.50g of alcohol per 1 kg of blood or 24 mg/l exhaled air and doesn’t show any behavioural disorder | 300 | 4 | / |
| More than 0.50 up to including 0.80g of alcohol per kg of blood or 0.24 to including 0.38mg alcohol / l of exhaled air | 600 | 8 | Possibility of 4 penalty points deleted if driver agrees to medical examination and consultation with a physician |
| More than 0.80 up to including 1.10 g alcohol per 1kg of blood or 0.38 to including 0.52 mg alcohol / l of air | 900 | 16 | Possibility of 4 penalty points deleted if driver agrees to voluntary rehabilitation programme |
| More than 1.10g of alcohol per kg of blood or more than 0.52 mg/ litre of exhaled air. | 1200 | 18 | Police can detain such a driver, driving licence can be cancelled. Licence withdrawal can also be postponed if a controlled health check and adequate rehabilitation programme is attended. |
Peroša didn’t need to spend a sobering night at the police station, since his wife came to pick him up. However, he did offer his resignation to the mayor of Koper, Aleš Bržan, who accepted it.
You can see the video of the incident here.
