A new law allows police to test the blood alcohol level of drivers who may have been driving drunk.
Russia reintroduced a legal alcohol limit for drivers in 2013. Drivers can be fined and lose their license if they exhale 0.16 mg of alcohol per liter of air under breathalyzer tests.
The new rules would allow authorities to measure the alcohol content of drivers unable to take a breath test. The law was originally signed by President Vladimir Putin in April of this year and came into force on Tuesday, July 3.
The legal blood alcohol limit is 0.3 grams per liter of blood, according to the new legislation. Drivers found to be intoxicated will be fined 30,000 rubles ($475) and have their license revoked for up to two years.
Experts say drivers are most likely to have their blood tested for alcohol in the case of a car accident.
“This applies to exceptional situations when an unconscious person is taken to hospital after an accident and it suddenly turns out that there’s alcohol in their blood,” Pyotr Shkumatov, coordinator of the Blue Buckets motorist rights organization, told state-run news agency RIA Novosti.
