According to statistics one out of every seven drivers sharing the road with you will be drunk. Here are some of the reasons why you have to be super attentive and on your guard when travelling on the South African roads.

Statistics paint a sad picture

According to Alexander Forbes Insurance, research shows that half of all road deaths in South Africa are a result of alcohol consumption. In fact, South Africa has one of the highest per capita alcohol consumption rates in the world. In an investigation into substance abuse, 50% of truck drivers and 30% of taxi drivers admitted to drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana while driving.

Medical Research Council (MRC) statistics point to as many as 18000 road deaths and 150000 severe injuries per year. To add insult to injury, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says the statistics in South Africa are under reported!

According to South Africans Against Drunk Driving (SADD), more than 1376 families lost loved ones on our roads over the 2013 to 2014 festive season. During the following six months 8477 people died, 77234 people were injured and 4709 people were left paralysed after road accidents. With the 2014 to 2015 festive season fast approaching, one can only hold one’s breath in dreaded anticipation of the carnage to come.

South Africa’s drunk driving laws

The South African Road Traffic Act 93/96 stipulates the following:

    • The legal blood alcohol limit is less than 0.05 g per 100 ml
    • The legal breath alcohol limit is less than 0.24 mg in 1000 ml of breath.

One unit is equal to 0.02g blood alcohol and it will take your body approximately one hour to process one unit of alcohol. What it boils down to is that drinking just two drinks in the space of an hour, for example one 250 ml glass of wine (3.3 units) or one beer (1.5 units) or one cider (2 units) or one 25 ml tot of spirits (1 unit), may push you over the legal limit to drive a car.

If you are caught

Traffic authorities are allowed to take a specimen of your breath if they suspect you are drunk. If you exceed the allowed limit, authorities are allowed to detain and restrain you if necessary in order to obtain a blood sample to test. If this is over the stipulated limit, you will have to appear in court.

If you are convicted of drunk driving, you may face jail time (up to 6 years), be held liable for fines of up to R120000, your driver’s license may be suspended and you will have a criminal record.

One would think the abovementioned would be enough to stop all drunk drivers in their tracks. Not so! Said SADD’s Caro Smit: “The justice system doesn’t treat drunk driving with the seriousness that it deserves… and people get off on technicalities.”

How to achieve zero tolerance?

Robin Carlisle, Western Cape Minister of Transport and Public Works set up a pilot project in 2010 in which he introduced three deterrents against drunk driving:

    1.  Road block alcohol testing
    1.  Speedy breathalyser legal confirmation that the driver was over the limit
    1. The “Name and Shame” publication that ensured that the affected community would  know of the convictions.

Did it work? Yes, statistics proved that it was serving as a deterrent but the national government soon stepped in and pilot project was stopped. Carlisle remarked that “the number of drunks we apprehend in our roadblocks is rising massively but these drunks know they face very limited, if any consequences when they kill others”.

Gary Ronald, head of public affairs at the Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) added that real action to curb the road carnage was impossible when there was no cohesive strategy or policy framework in evidence for road safety.

Although the government has started stepping up on the Home Safe campaign, it’s like preaching to the converted. As things stand at present, zero tolerance towards drunk driving and drunk drivers seems to be an impossible dream. Much more should be done by the criminal justice system (justice and police) to end the reign of terror under which all South Africans live. After all, people will continue committing crimes when they know they are unlikely to be punished!

 

Sources

Alcoholism. Retrieved from: http://www.alcohol.co.za/statistics.htm
Carlisle, R. 2014. Killer drunk drivers are laughing. Retrieved from: http://www.iol.co.za/news/killer-drunk-drivers-are-laughing-1.1688969#.VHzQ5dKUeE4
Driving drunk? So here’s what happens. 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.wheels24.co.za/Arrive-Safe/News/Driving-drunk-So-heres-what-happens-20141128
Drunk driving laws in South Africa. 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.news24.com/Travel/South-Africa/Drunk-Driving-laws-in-South-Africa-20121211
Miandu, L. 2014. Drunk driving stats under reported. Retrieved from: http://ewn.co.za/2014/01/06/SADD—Drunk-driving-stats-underreported
No mercy for drunk drivers. 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.iol.co.za/motoring/industry-news/no-mercy-for-drunk-drivers-1.1449953#.VHhoi9KUeE4
South Africans Against Drunk Driving (SADD). Retrieved from: https://www.arrivealive.co.za/pages.aspx?i=872
Statistics. Retrieved from: http://www.sadd.org.za/education/statistics
Williams, M. Ending drunk driving is in our hands. 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/ending-drunk-driving-is-in-our-hands-1.1689579#.VHhvOtKUeE4