Reducing blood alcohol limit to zero not the whole solution
'We cannot have a situation where the government is guessing to what extent alcohol is a contributor to road deaths' - Automobile Association
REDUCING the blood alcohol limit to zero will not solve the problem of road deaths.
This is according to the Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) following Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula’s announcement on the proposed changes to the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit to zero per cent.
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‘The current enforcement measures will not stop those who regularly exceed the limits because there are simply no consequences for their actions.
‘Drinking and driving can be eliminated more effectively by reducing the allowable alcohol limits for drivers, and courts imposing tougher sentences on offenders,’ the AA said in a statement.
It said government’s move to reduce the limit should be supported by a thorough, scientific diagnosis of the problem of drinking and driving with proper statistics.
‘We cannot have a situation where the government is guessing to what extent alcohol is a contributor to road deaths, with no actual plan to deal with the road safety crisis in South Africa as a whole other than to amend the law.
‘This approach amounts to dealing with the issue of drunk driving without first addressing the issue of current enforcement and lack of education,’ says the association.
The AA proposes that the current 0.05% limit be reduced to 0.02%, in line with many other countries.
‘The proposed move to reduce the legal limit to zero does not take into consideration the fact that some medications such as cough syrups may contain alcohol.
‘In such cases, drivers may find themselves with criminal records for taking one dose of this medication when it will have no material effect on their driving ability,’ the AA said.
‘Behavioural change is needed to solve this problem, and that requires proper enforcement of existing laws and more intensive education of the dangers of drunk driving, both of which do not currently occur.’
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