Attica: 5,494 traffic violations in one week

Five thousand four hundred and ninety-four violations were recorded in one week on the roads of Attica, according to the results of the operation carried out by the Attica Traffic Police Directorate. The action began in the early morning hours of 17 August and concluded on the morning of Monday 24 August 2026. In the same period, 22 drivers were arrested and 990 vehicles were immobilised. These are regular checks that are stepped up during the summer, when traffic to and from the Attica coast increases and journeys shift to the evening hours. Operations of this kind are announced on a weekly basis and reflect both the intensity of checks and driver behaviour within the same time window.

Most of the arrests are linked to alcohol. Fourteen of the 22 people arrested were driving under the influence of alcohol, with a reading above 0.60 milligrams per litre of exhaled air, the threshold above which the offence stops being administrative and becomes criminal. In total, 26,986 breath tests were carried out, from which 197 violations resulted, a rate of 0.73% of all those checked. At the same time, 5,297 violations of the Road Traffic Code were recorded, involving speeding, not wearing a helmet, using a mobile phone while driving, running traffic signals and driving without a licence. The rate shows that the large majority of drivers checked were within limits, but the absolute number of offenders remains three-digit within seven days.

A separate part of the operation focused exclusively on speed. In 788 targeted checks, 276 violations were recorded, meaning more than one in three measurements resulted in a fine. The two extreme incidents recorded involved vehicles travelling at 170 and 165 kilometres per hour at points where the limit is 50 kilometres per hour. These are speeds more than three times the permitted limit, on roads that are part of the urban network and therefore have pedestrian crossings, roadside entrances and parked vehicles. Traffic Police did not release the locations where the two vehicles were detected. At such speeds, stopping distance multiplies and a driver’s margin to react to the unexpected is essentially wiped out.

Of the 990 immobilised vehicles, 79 were towed away, while 926 driving licences and 277 vehicle registration licences were confiscated. The figures continue a series of similar reports in recent weeks: the previous week Traffic Police had announced 14,032 breath tests and twelve driver arrests, while a four-day targeted operation on Syngrou Avenue had recorded around 1,800 violations. The announcement does not say whether any of the violations are linked to a road accident, nor whether checks will continue at the same intensity after the end of the summer season. Confiscation of a driving licence is an administrative measure imposed on the spot and accompanies the more serious violations.