Pushback against controversial driving law proposed for South Africa
Parliamentary legal advisors have recommended that government scrap its proposal to introduce a zero-tolerance drunk during rule in South Africa.
In a presentation to Parliament’s portfolio committee on transport this week, the legal advisors said they were not convinced by the government’s proposal to decrease the alcohol percentage on a driver’s blood to 0% through the National Road Traffic Amendment Bill.
Included in the bill is an amendment of Section 65 of the Road Traffic Act which effectively changes the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit for drivers from 0.05 grams per 100 millilitres to 0.00g/100ml, and the breath alcohol concentration from 0.24g/1,000ml also to zero.
It said the Department of Transport’s own argument for the provision were outweighed by the many public submissions which criticised the proposal.
The introduction of a zero-tolerance drunk rule in South Africa has faced criticism from civil society groups who warn that drivers can show higher blood alcohol levels after taking some medications or eating certain food groups, leading to false positives.
“These proposed changes are concerning on a number of levels and although the stated reason for the change is the promotion of road safety, within the current framework of traffic law enforcement, nothing will change, except that innocent drivers are likely to be criminalised,” the Automobile Association (AA) said in 2020 presentation.
“For instance, someone who is using medication which contains alcohol will now be arrested, charged and possibly prosecuted for having a small dose of alcohol in their blood while their driving ability has not been impaired,” said the AA.
The Association said the proposed amendment will make motorists soft targets for traffic law enforcers, and that the desired outcomes of improved road safety will not be met.
“How will traffic law enforcement change to accommodate this proposed amendment? And, perhaps more importantly, how will a single piece of legislation change drivers’ attitudes when nothing else around traffic law enforcement changes at the same time?
“Without proper and implementable actions, we don’t believe the amendments relating to the alcohol levels will have a material impact on our abysmal road fatality statistics,” said the AA.
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