A Durban man has been cleared of drunken driving after his lawyer challenged the law regarding the use of the Draeger breathalyser device, the Sunday Times reported.
The Durban Magistrate’s Court found hotel manager Aveer Inderjith, 22, not guilty after the State failed to “produce any evidence regarding the instruments used”, according to court documents containing the ruling.
His lawyer Anand Nepaul was quoted as saying: “This was the first time I dealt with the legality of using that instrument to adduce evidence in court. The (transport) minister must sort the act out and get reliable equipment. You can’t charge people where there is no law allowing the use of the equipment. First it has to be legal, secondly, reliable.”
The Draeger measures the volume of alcohol vapour in a drinker’s exhaled breath.
In a similar case currently under way in the Western Cape High Court, Clifford Joseph Hendricks is challenging the validity and accuracy of the Draeger apparatus used during his arrest last year. His alcohol vapour count was 0.95mg. The maximum allowed is 0.24.
Durban police spokesperson Colonel Jay Naicker told the newspaper the city stopped using the Draeger system in April, and was now using blood tests instead.
– SAPA
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