South Africa News

New drunk driving laws ‘risk criminalisation of innocent motorists’ – AA

November 16, 2020

New zero-tolerance laws set to be introduced to the National Road Traffic Act to curb drunk driving in South Africa are under scrutiny, with the Automobile Association (AA) suggesting that innocent motorists will be adversely affected once they are implemented.

Amendments to the Act that insist on that drivers’ blood alcohol content is zero percent were announced by Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula back in August, are undergoing parliamentary review and will likely be introduced in coming months.

New drunk driving laws insist on zero percent alcohol reading

The amendment to Section 65 of the Act states the following:

“No persons shall on public road drive a vehicle or occupy the driver’s seat of a vehicle, the engine of which is running, while there is any concentration of alcohol in any specimen of blood taken from his or her body.”

back link building services=0></a></div><p>Mbalula was unwavering in his insistence that the law be administered rigorously to reduce South Africa’s dire road accident statistics.</p><p>“You must be totally sober when behind the wheel… the law will bite, there will be serious consequences,” said Mbalula.</p><p>Approximately 13 000 people are killed on the country’s roads annually, and over the course of the 2019 festive season, more than 24 000 people were arrested for drunk driving – this figure constituting a third of all arrests made over the same period. </p><h2>New laws ‘concerning on a number of levels’ </h2><p>The AA however, say that while the new laws might be well intended, they are going to adversely affect innocent drivers when rolled out in practice. </p><p>“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,” they said in a statement on Monday 16 November. </p><div class='code-block code-block-5' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'> <a href=https://www.adhang.com/guest-posting-services/ ><img class=lazy src=

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