Drug drivers on the A10: Police pull several drivers out of traffic!

Drug drivers on the A10: Police pull several drivers out of traffic!

On May 27, 2025, the police carried out extensive checks on the A10 Tauernautobahn near Salzburg, during which several drivers were removed from traffic due to drug impairment. These measures are part of an ongoing effort to make the streets safer and better identify drug drivers.

In total, four cases of drivers being under the influence of drugs were identified during the checks. The first case involved a 35-year-old from Salzburg who was traveling in serpentine lines and did not have a driver's license. A drug saliva test came back positive for cannabis, and 26 grams of cannabis herb were also found in the car. The driver refused to be examined by the district doctor and was reported.

Various violations on the highway

Another case involved a 30-year-old from Salzburg who was on a practice drive and also showed an unsafe driving style. Police found he had a saliva drug test that tested positive for cannabis, amphetamines and opiates. The district doctor declared him unfit to drive, whereupon his companion took over the vehicle. He had to hand in his practice driving certificate and he was reported.

A 25-year-old man from Bruck was stopped while taking drugs and classified as unfit to drive. He also received a report. The fourth case involved a 47-year-old Bosnian from Radstadt who was also driving without a driver's license. He was also charged and was not allowed to continue driving.

In addition to the drug checks, technical checks were carried out on 28 vehicles on May 26, 2025 in the vehicle inspection center at the Kuchl checkpoint. Two vehicles were not roadworthy and three were only partially roadworthy. In total, 35 reports were filed and five executive mandates were issued, with the most noticeable deficiencies being performance-enhancing modifications.

Drinking and speeding violations

But the complaints were not limited to drugs. On November 10th, a 42-year-old Croatian was stopped on the A10 in Flachau for exceeding the speed limit in the construction area by 62 km/h. The police also stopped a 36-year-old Bosnian woman who was going 52 km/h too fast. Both drivers had to answer to the responsible district authority, and the Bosnian woman also provided a security deposit.

A worrying trend can be seen in the figures from the unreported study by the Board of Trustees for Road Safety (KFV): In 2023, around 250,000 people drove a vehicle under the influence of drugs. This is in stark contrast to the only 8,676 reports of drug driving, which represents only about three percent of the estimated cases. According to the KFV, there is an urgent need for action to take drug drivers out of circulation more effectively.

The police will continue to increase such checks in the future in order to combat both drug and alcohol abuse on the roads and to increase safety on the roads. For a lasting improvement in the area of ​​drug detection, suitable devices and processes are urgently needed in order to counteract the high number of unreported drug traffickers more effectively.

For more information on this topic, you can read the reports by [5min] and [SN] as well as the study by [KFV].