Monaco ran a two-week operation of enhanced night-time road checks from August 3 to 16, giving police additional powers to carry out preventive roadside checks anywhere across the Principality, as the government looked to reduce risks tied to the seasonal influx of visitors and a particularly active nightlife scene.
Checks were authorised between 10pm and 4am throughout the period, with drivers liable to be stopped and tested for both alcohol and substances classified as narcotics. Unlike checks triggered by an accident or visibly erratic driving, the measure allowed police to carry out preventive screening at any point during the specified hours, regardless of how a driver was behaving.
The timing reflected a familiar seasonal pattern in Monaco. August brings hotels, restaurants and terraces to capacity, intensifies nightlife, and draws large numbers of visitors from neighbouring France and Italy, many arriving by car. That combination of heavier traffic and late-night entertainment led the government to treat the first half of August as a period requiring additional vigilance, given that more people, more vehicles and more alcohol consumption can add up to a greater risk of impaired drivers on Monaco’s already busy streets.
The operation forms part of a broader shift in Monaco’s approach to road safety, following the adoption of Law No. 1.582 of November 14, 2025, which strengthened the Principality’s road-safety legislation and expanded police powers to carry out alcohol and drug screening. That law also toughened penalties for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and established a clearer legal basis for preventive testing more broadly.