Nobody should risk going on the road whilst not sober!! It is simply not worth the risk! It is encouraging to find that more and more event organizers and companies from the private sector are following the responsible route and are encouraging those attending events to use breathalysers or to make use of designated driver services!
But when should I not drive and what are the limits?
We would like to share a correspondence between iWyze and Justice Project South Africa as well as a few links to bring clarification on this matter:
Email from iWyze
“iWYZE have launched and activating breathalyzer testing at the Old Mutual Music in the Garden series. People attending the concerts can come and have a test done and we advise them to make use of our transport home if they are over the legal limit when tested. If they opt for the transport, we will phone a dedicated transport company whom we have arranged a discount with to take them home. The cost is for their own account. We are wanting to change the mind set of people to not drink and then get behind the wheel while they are over the legal limit.
People are not aware that they are over the legal limit to drive, when they had a drink. We also inform them of the consequences of getting behind the wheel if they are over the legal limit after taking the breathalyser test. We do tell those people who willingly take the breathalyser test that it is merely a guideline. It is going extremely well but we have some question regarding the breathalyzer limit. As per specifications, the breathalyzer test limit is 0.24 per 1000 ml but I need to know –
- When you are breathalysed by the Metro Police at a road block or randomly, at what limit do they arrest you?
- Do the Metro Police officer have to show you your results after the breathalyser was done?
These are some of the questions I have received…”
Response from Justice Project South Africa
Congratulations on an excellent initiative. The effective addressing of intoxicating substance driving is a topic very close to our hearts and I agree with you that few people are aware of the effect that the ingestion of alcohol has on both, their ability to drive competently and the reading that will result from a breathalyser.
The “legal limit” story in the National Road Traffic Act is a bit of a misnomer as very few people understand that it is not in fact the “limit”, but the level at which you would be regarded as guilty for driving under the influence of alcohol. It is for this reason that our organisation advocates the removal of a “limit” and simply stating “if you have had alcohol to drink, you may not drive, no matter how little or much you have had.”
Section 65 of the National Road Traffic Act makes it an offence to operate a motor vehicle whilst the level of alcohol in a breath specimen is not below 0.24 milligrams of alcohol per 1000ml of breath sampled.
It also states that it is an offence to operate a motor vehicle whilst the level of alcohol present in a blood sample is not below 0.05 gram per 100 millilitres of blood sampled. I mention this because many breathalysers extrapolate their readings to Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) levels, as opposed to Breath Alcohol Content (BrAC) levels and this must be watched out for, particularly when stopped by traffic police. A law enforcement official who tests a person using a breathalyser will arrest any person if they provide a reading of 0.24 (or 0.05) or more.
However, it is important to note that the National Road Traffic Act does not actually require for a person to be tested with an electronic breathalyser or a blood test in order to prosecute them for driving under the influence of alcohol. Section 65(1) of the National Road Traffic Act provides for prosecution of such a person based on the observations of a law enforcement officer and/or medical examiner, so it may not always be necessary to provide evidential breath or blood tests in order to convict a person of being under the influence of alcohol.
But let’s stay on the topic of breathalyser tests. I am not sure if you are aware of it but whilst a breathalyser test provides an indication of the level of alcohol present on the breath of a test subject at that particular time, there are many factors that will influence the accuracy of breathalyser tests. Amongst these are when last the person had ingested alcohol since the presence of mouth alcohol (if they had drank alcohol very recently) would increase a reading produced, whilst the absorption rate of the particular person would produce a lower or higher reading than may be produced if two tests were conducted 30 minutes apart from one another.
For example, a person who had just had a single liqueur around five minutes before being tested may produce a higher reading than a person who had had two beers three quarters of an hour previously. If both subjects were to be tested again a little later, you would most likely find that the person who had drank the liqueur would produce a lower reading whilst the person who had drank 2 beers would be over the limit.
Obviously, everything depends on when the person ingested the last drink, since alcohol is only eliminated from the human body at a rate of approximately 1 unit per hour.
I would therefore suggest that anyone who produces a result of anything over 0.12 BrAC (or 0.02 BAC) should be discouraged from driving as the possibility of this reading increasing over a relatively short period of time is high.
One thing that breathalysers do not address is the ingestion of drugs and whilst drug testing is rare in South African roadblocks, people should be aware of the fact that driving under the influence of a drug having a narcotic effect is also illegal in South Africa. It has been our observation that the instance of people (particularly younger people) using drugs like marijuana, ecstasy, etc. before driving is on the rise and despite the fact that such people will probably escape detection when stopped in roadblocks, they nonetheless present an extreme danger on our roads. This may not be particularly relevant to the type of concerts Old Mutual holds, however it should also be borne in mind.
Should you require any further information or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best Regards,
Howard Dembovsky
National Chairman – Justice Project South Africa (NPC)
We would also like to share these links:
View:
The consequences of drunk driving and unlicensed driving explained
For more on alcohol and car insurance also view:
Also view:
- Insured vehicle owners need a reality check about drunk driving
- Do not mix energy drinks and alcohol before driving
- Drunk driving could sharply increase your car insurance premium!
- Will my car insurance pay if I drive drunk?
