Responsibility Day

A similar concept was launched in 2012 by the Slovak Beer and Malt Association (SBMA) at the “Responsibility Day”, an awareness activity that aims to inform the public about alcohol abuse and its consequences, and demonstrate the ways of prevention. It is an annual effort organised in cooperation with the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic (PHASR), the Police Headquarters of the Slovak Republic, the Road Traffic Safety Department of the Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic (BECEP). The project was extended with a “Don´t drink and drive campaign” in 2013, which included a press launch in July at the premises of the Headquarters of the Slovak Police. Breath tests were carried out in 36 towns, including in Bratislava where police patrols on the roads handed out non-alcoholic beer. In total information materials were distributed to over 1,500 people and 2,775 drivers were stopped for alcohol tests
In 2014, the campaign was again relaunched in July at the headquarters of the Slovak Police, with police forces going on to conduct 18 patrols on the roads in 8 regional towns – Bratislava, Žilina, Banská Bystrica, Košice, Prešov, Trnava, Nitra and Trenín – handing out non-alcoholic beer and factsheets. With support from the national cycling coordinator and the Opribike project, an event took place on the river bank in Bratislava, with a presentation of the cyclists’ code including a specific focus on responsible alcohol consumption and non-alcoholic beer once again distributed alongside the information materials.
In 2015, police patrols focused especially on “young” drivers with just five years of driving experience – a group of drivers responsible for one sixth of all traffic accidents in Slovakia during first seven months of the year 2015. Of the 507 drivers checked by police in 8 regional towns, two of them were under the influence of alcohol. Whilst the campaign included the ongoing distribution of alcohol breath testers and non-alcoholic beer, a new element to the initiative was the participation of restaurants and pubs. They participated by placing a warning “When I am going to drink alcohol, my car stays at home” and distributing more than 6000 alcohol breath testers from September 2015 to January 2016.