With the zero blood alcohol level regulation set to take effect this year, SA Breweries (SAB) has partnered with government law-enforcement bodies to help enforce blood-alcohol limits and speed up prosecution of offenders.
Central to the plan are Alcohol Evidence Centres (AECs), which SAB director of communities, Heidi Bartis, says are the best tool to help equip law enforcement to effectively curb the rate of fatal road accidents.
She was speaking at the recent virtual 39th Southern African Transport Conference.
She says AECs are a means of accelerating evidence gathering and prosecution of drink-driving offenders and dissuading drivers from offending in future.
“Currently, law enforcement uses blood testing to test drivers, which takes too long for effective prosecutions, and does not deter intoxicated individuals from driving,” says Bartis. “Our evidential breath alcohol testing technology is an alternative test that provides immediate results acceptable in court.”
The AECs will be operated by law enforcement officers in hotspot areas, to which suspects will be brought for testing. This will enable immediate evidence to take cases forward.
She says a pilot project in Pietermaritzburg has confirmed the effectiveness of the initiative, and SAB is looking to set up 10 similar facilities around the country.
In one year, from April 2019 to April 2020, the Pietermaritzburg AEC made 1 500 arrests, and more than 400 successful prosecutions of drivers under the influence of alcohol – achieving a 44% reduction in road fatalities in the area of the AEC.
