adminOne major problem that was not tackled was the lethal combination of alcohol and driving. It is now generally agreed that fairly small levels of alcohol in a driver’s blood, the amount generated by just two drinks, can impair driving ability so severely that an accident is several times as likely to occur.
Zimbabwean law is pretty up to date. Anyone with more than 80mg/100ml of blood is committing an offence, one that has at least a steep fine and which can see a licence suspended. The only minor change probably needed to our law is a limit set in terms of breath alcohol levels, so that the blood test is not always needed on top of a breathalyser test. It is enforcement that is a problem.
The police did not have calibrated breathalyser machines available. So they could not test drivers, and test them at a time of the year when many have been to parties or have been drinking with friends.
We think that with Zimbabwe’s appalling accident and death rates it would pay us to blitz drinking and driving. Machines cost no more than US$400, and so long as fines are set appropriately it would need no more than one driver being caught to pay for the machine. And that would just be the cash return.
Damaged and destroyed vehicles would save the country millions of dollars.
And then, most importantly, we have what cannot be crudely calculated in terms of dollars, the lives of those killed.
We need to take the attack on drinking and driving seriously. We know that doing so will save many lives. To take one obvious example: Britain, France and Italy have roughly the same number of people, same number of vehicles, similar size economies and similar roads.
Yet France’s death rate on the roads is roughly twice Britain’s, and Italy’s is roughly twice France’s. The main difference is enforcement of traffic laws, and especially those pertaining to alcohol.
Britain is ruthless in enforcement, and has forced a major social and cultural change in that hardly anyone now risks driving
after having a drink. It can be quite weird seeing full pubs with hardly any cars in the car park, and listen to complicated
decisions about who is driving when a group of people go out since the driver is expected to be teetotal.
Even the rich obey the law since every court suspends a driving licence for a year for a first offender.
France is more relaxed about enforcement, and Italy is a great deal more relaxed. The results show up at cemeteries.
It would be impossible to catch every Zimbabwean offender in one day, or even one festive season. We suspect the majority offend.
But we have seen that even modest enforcement within equipment limits can have a major impact.
When speed traps are common almost all motorists do drive a lot more carefully. The police themselves have noticed that when they mount these traps the numbers caught drop rapidly each day. It is the same with enforcement of traffic signals.
Once motorists know there is only a modest risk of being caught going through a red light, or an amber for that matter, they suddenly start obeying signals.
And it could be the same with breathalysers. If every roadblock did a bit of random sampling, we are sure that the numbers of drivers willing to risk driving after a session in a bar would drop fast.
Families would probably be happier seeing husbands and fathers drinking at home instead of coming home late. And local suburban bars would no doubt see business pick up as people look for a place within walking distance.
Zimbabweans tend of joke about drunken drivers, and few take that piece of legislation seriously. But the jokes end when we attend funerals, and indifference is muted when a drunk hits us.
Since equipment charges are so low, we hope that the police and the Treasury between them can find the money to buy what is needed so that we can start hammering this problem and force a culture change. And in any case, as we have said, the fine income, at least at first, will quickly pay for the equipment.
There are a lot of orphans wishing we had started enforcing these laws already. But we can ensure that there are fewer to point an accusing finger if we start now.
Online Reporter