The disputed peth tests should no longer be the basis for revocation of driving licences, the Swedish Transport Agency proposes. The rule change will now go out for consultation.
Last spring, the Swedish Transport Agency found itself in a storm after a number of people had their driving licenses revoked due to at least two elevated PETH tests, a blood test used to measure a person’s alcohol consumption over a number of weeks and which can indicate excessive alcohol consumption.
The reactions were strong – and the Swedish Transport Agency is now proposing a change.
More like the EU
According to the new proposal, alcohol diagnoses other than addiction should no longer be seen as a basis for revoking a driver’s license, which means that elevated peth values alone do not mean that the driver’s license can be revoked.
– We have worked for a long time to clarify the regulations and we have listened to the strong reactions that have been around the peth samples. We have made an international comparison as well as an in-depth scientific study and the result is that we have not found anything that connects the milder diagnoses and driving, says Katarina Norén, head of unit at the Swedish Transport Agency, to TT.
As the regulations are formulated today, a driver’s license can be revoked if a person has an alcohol addiction or an alcohol use that is harmful and is not temporary – the Swedish Transport Agency proposes that those categories be removed and that the regulations instead reflect the EU’s driver’s license directive, which only talks about addiction.
– If you have been diagnosed with addiction, you have impaired cognitive functions, your ability to react is, for example, worse. But we don’t know for sure with the milder diagnoses. If we are to have tougher requirements than the EU, we must be better on our feet.
Notification obligation
Peth tests will continue to be used by doctors to determine sobriety in driver’s license holders who have an alcohol dependence diagnosis, according to the proposal. Doctors will also have a general notification duty if they judge that a person is medically unfit to be a driver.
The Swedish Transport Agency’s proposal is now out for consultation and is expected to enter into force on 15 January 2026.
