When thinking about Easter, there are a number of foods that immediately come to mind. For some, one thing that stands out is hot cross buns.

While hot cross buns are now sold and enjoyed throughout the year, they were once reserved for Good Friday alone.

Recently, much to the concern of motorists as we approach Easter weekend, a video has gone viral showing a traffic officer testing positive for alcohol consumption after eating a hot cross bun.

The Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison (DCSSL) recently said in a statement, that it would like to assure members of the public that they will not be arrested after eating hot cross buns.

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“The public should be aware that the device used is a screening instrument and the first results obtained from it have to be validated through further tests before an arrest can be made.

“The purpose of alcohol testing device is to determine the driver’s blood alcohol concentration in the body specimen. The video shows mouth alcohol concentration which is not sufficient evidence to charge a motorist for drunken driving,” it stated.

“It is standard practise that an alleged drunken driver, after taking a breathalyser test, will be taken to an evidential breath alcohol tester (EBAT) which has equipment. It is calibrated by National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA) for accuracy and only these results determine whether to effect an arrest or not. The EBAT machine requires that an officer must take two breath samples with 15 to 20 minutes allowance between the tests,” the statement further reads.

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The EBAT machine will record an error where mouth alcohol is detected. This will be the case with the video as shown where an officer immediately blew into the screener without a waiting period. Where there is sufficient evidence from the EBAT machine to conclude that the alleged driver is intoxicated, the results will then be used for prosecution.

The validity and accuracy of the evidential breath alcohol tester, recently launched by the national minister of transport, is in no way affected by what is shown in the video.

“It is regrettable that this video has surfaced and caused alarm at this critical period of the year when high traffic volumes and alcohol consumption are expected over the long weekend.
“Any information obtained from an alcohol screener cannot be used in court for prosecution purposes other than it being used as a detection for alcohol consumption.

“The Road Traffic Management Corporation wants to assure the public and the fraternity in its totality that there is no sinister motive to unfairly prosecute someone with an untested measuring instrument.

“We hope that the concerned authority will take appropriate corrective action to prevent a repeat of a similar incident,”the statement concluded.