Drunken driving was drawn into the spotlight again following a crash two weeks ago when a suspected drunk driver killed himself and three police officers in a head-on collision.
Consequently, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula proposed changing the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit to 0%.
ALSO READ: Reducing blood alcohol limit to zero not the whole solution
Real change, however, depends on a change in behaviour and not just legislation alone.
The managing director of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, explained: ‘Someone who does not respect the current BAC limit, is unlikely to respect a lower one.
‘Those who will obey a 0% BAC limit are likely not the ones who break the current limit.
‘We need to accept that a real difference can only be made by changing the drinking behaviour of drunk drivers,’ said Herbert.
‘A change in behaviour can only be realised once people truly understand how dangerous and destructive drinking and driving can be.
‘The onus is on society, corporates and individuals to initiate this change.’
He says we can use the analogy of vehicles that easily reach speed of 200km/h to better understand why changing the BAC level will have a limited effect.
‘Many cars are more than capable of travelling at this speed, but the responsibility of reckless driving at high speed cannot lie with the manufacturer.
‘Societal perception appears to concur with this as there are no calls for manufacturers to stop designing cars that can be driven at high speed,’ Herbert said.
‘Instead, the onus to drive responsibly is placed on the driver and, failing that, penalties should be applied by law enforcement.
‘As ineffective as it would be to ban performance and sports cars, so would it be to try and ban drink driving altogether,’ concluded Herbert.
The Automobile Association (AA) also commented on the matter, saying a zero limit is not going to change people’s behaviour and courts should instead impose tougher sentences on offenders.
‘Currently, there are simply no consequences for their actions,’ the association said.
‘Although SA’s current BAC limit of 0.05% is not out of line with world standards, the crisis on our roads demands a tougher approach’.
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