Cape Town - New “zero booze” legislation is set to finally clear up the grey area of alcohol limits, banning drivers from even having a single drop of liquor before stepping behind the wheel.
And while politicians from both camps have welcomed the draft law, which was opened for public comment on Tuesday, some have warned that the extra case load of prosecuting more drunk drivers could place a huge burden on the country’s already strained court system, and may not be effective at all in curbing drunk driving.
The proposed new section of the Draft National Road Traffic Amendment states: “Driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs having a narcotic effect is prohibited.”
The proposal is that “no person shall on a public road (a) drive a vehicle, or (b) occupy the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle, the engine of which is running, while there is a concentration of alcohol in any specimen of blood taken from any part of his or her body.”
Current laws allow drivers to have up to 0.05g of alcohol per 100ml of blood, or 0.02g for professional drivers.
Tightening the legal limit has been a pet project for many of the ANC’s ministers, chief among them health minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who was calling for a complete ban on drunk driving in 2013.
‘CRASHES COST THE STATE BILLIONS’
Arrive Alive said research showed that 50 percent of people who died on South Africa’s roads had a blood alcohol level over the legal limit.
In January, transport minister Dipuo Peters confirmed that alcohol abuse played a significant role in more than 1368 fatal crashes over the festive season. She said crashes were “costing the state billions”.
In Cape Town, mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said the zero-tolerance approach would simplify enforcement.
Over the weekend, city traffic officials and metro police arrested 93 people for drunk driving across the city.
“Drivers will know that they can’t drink at all rather than trying to estimate their level before getting behind the steering wheel.”
But he said this didn’t address the underlying problem of motorists’ attitudes towards drunk driving.
“They don’t look at it as something abhorrent, just something they can get away with.”
Smith said the nature of the court system meant that most drunk drivers were able to deal with their cases behind closed doors without risk of friends and family finding out.
SUCCESSFUL DETERRENT
This is why he is still an advocate for LeadSA’s now-defunct “Name and Shame campaign” which was scrapped by the Road Traffic Management Corporation in the final hours before becoming a national initiative. The project was piloted in the Western Cape where it was used to publicise the names of motorists caught driving under the influence.
“It was an incredibly successful deterrent,” he said yesterday.
He argued that implementing the “zero booze” limit would require a huge investment of resources in the court system to accommodate the new case load for a minor improvement in safety, where a campaign such as “Name and Shame” would cost nothing.
DA spokesman for transport Manny de Freitas remained unconvinced that the new approach would help clarify the grey area of the current alcohol limits.
“The bottom line is that there is still a grey area, you can’t ban alcohol outright. There are medicines that contain trace amounts, what would you do then? It would register if there is any alcohol in your system and this would just gum up the courts with unnecessary cases.”
The Justice Project South Africa said it was a medical fact that some people would produce false-positive reads of blood and breath samples. Eating certain fruit, for example, could produce naturally occurring blood alcohol levels.
“The law needs to be further discussed and expanded on.”
LICENSES SEIZED
A few countries have implemented the zero alcohol limit. In Nepal, for example, breathalyser testing is regularly used in major cities. Motorists testing positive will have their licences seized instantly, getting them back only after attending classes run by traffic police. They are also fined.
Malawi and Nigeria have zero-tolerance approaches to drunk driving, but statistics for alcohol-related deaths are inaccurate.
On social media, the reaction to the proposed law in this country has been mixed. An IOL reader wrote: “In general I support the notion - because there will be no more concept of ‘just one drink’ which then snowballs into more. People would hopefully be more responsible about selecting when and where they drink.”
Services such as Good Fellas, Home Heroes and Drive Wise - which provide designated drivers to ferry you home once you’ve had a few too many - have become increasingly popular over the past 10 years.
Good Fellas spokeswoman Alison Brussow said customers were becoming more aware of how alcohol impaired judgment.
Those who wish to comment on the new bill, and drink driving restrictions, have until 27 February to do so. The draft bill must also go through the parliamentary process. - The Argus