A 78-year-old man faces investigation for a serious road safety offence after crashing his car into a canal in Castelló d’Empúries on Saturday afternoon, driving with a breath alcohol level nearly seven times the legal limit.
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Despite the spectacular nature of the accident, which left his vehicle half-submerged on its side in a ditch, the driver managed to escape without serious injuries.
The incident took place at around 4:30 PM on the Camí Vell de Roses, a road in the municipality of Castelló d’Empúries in the Alt Empordà region of Girona. Emergency services were called to the scene after the driver lost control of his vehicle, veering off the road and plunging into the adjacent waterway.
A Multi-Agency Response
Emergency teams swiftly mounted a coordinated response. Units from the local Policia Local, the Catalan regional police force Mossos d’Esquadra, and several crews from the Bombers de la Generalitat (the Catalan Fire Service) were dispatched to the location. Paramedics from the Sistema d’Emergències Mèdiques (SEM) also attended.
Upon arrival, they found the car lying on its side in the canal. The driver, however, had already managed to get out of the vehicle independently. Officers noted his erratic behaviour and suspected he was under the influence of alcohol.
Staggering Alcohol Reading
Police administered a mandatory breathalyser test, which returned a result of 1.74 milligrams of alcohol per litre of exhaled air (mg/L). This figure is almost seven times the standard legal limit in Spain of 0.25 mg/L for experienced drivers.
Under Spanish law, any reading exceeding 0.60 mg/L is classified as a criminal offence, or a delito contra la seguridad vial (a crime against road safety). This can result in penalties including imprisonment, significant fines, and a lengthy driving ban.
Protocol requires a second test after a short interval. However, when officers attempted to administer it around ten minutes later, the man refused to cooperate, which is also a punishable offence.
Investigation and Aftermath
Due to the extremely high alcohol reading and his refusal to submit to a second test, authorities formally identified the driver, who is now under investigation for a crime against road safety.
While he appeared to have no serious visible injuries, paramedics transported him by ambulance to the Hospital de Figueres for a more comprehensive medical evaluation as a precautionary measure. Meanwhile, firefighters from the Generalitat de Catalunya began the complex operation of extracting the damaged vehicle from the canal, as first reported by El Caso.
