ARRIVE ALIVE, DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE

The facts you need to know:

• You are driving under the influence of alcohol when you have a concentration of over 0,08 gram per 100ml blood-alcohol level or 0,38 milligram per 1000 ml of breath-alcohol
• The maximum penalty for drunk driving is R120,000 and/or six years imprisonment
• A magistrate can suspend or permanently cancel your driver=s licence if you are convicted of drunken driving
• You will have a criminal record if you are found guilty of driving under the influence

ALCOHOL IS NOT A MITIGATING FACTOR IN ANY ROAD

CRASH OR ANY COURT ACTION ARISING OUT OF ONE

DRINKING AND DRIVING IS A

CRIMINAL OFFENCE

LATEST!: Breathalyser Test results have been accepted by Attorney’s General as admissible evidence in court. This means that:

• It will be easier for traffic officers to check drivers for drinking and driving as they will no longer need nurses at roadblocks or have to take drivers to hospital to draw a blood sample
• If a driver is breathalysed and found to be over the legal limit, s/he can be taken off the road immediately and could be sentenced within hours. There are no court delays arising from the wait for blood test results
• The introduction of the breathalyser in the UK led to a 300% increase in convictions in its first year of operation

ALCOHOL AFFECTS YOUR ABILITY TO DRIVE

Alcohol is water-soluble and is absorbed in the blood. More blood is supplied to the brain than other organs, with the result that alcohol impairs your brain functions within minutes.

At a breath-alcohol level of 0.38:

• Reaction time doubles, muscle co-ordination diminishes and a driver is more likely to respond incorrectly to stimuli
• Alcohol affects the forebrain by suppressing caution, carefulness, concentration, self criticism and self control
• It is a mood changer, leading to a feeling of well-being and to recklessness, aggression and carelessness, all of which are highly likely to negatively affect judgement
• Alcohol affects vision: Depth perception deteriorates, making it impossible to judge accurately how far away objects are. Eye muscles lose their precision and when both eyes can=t focus on the same object, vision becomes blurred or you see double.
• Alcohol results in tunnel vision. At night pupils don=t adapt from darkness to light and a drunk driver will be dazzled by oncoming headlights much more severely than a sober driver. Alcohol also makes night blindness worse.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU ARE CAUGHT DRINKING AND DRIVING

• If you are caught driving under the influence of alcohol, you do not have the option of paying a fine. You will be arrested on the spot
• You will then be taken to a police station where you get booked and locked up in a cell until you are sober
• After you have sobered up (which can take hours), you will be charged for driving under the influence of alcohol
• If a blood test is being used as evidence, you may apply for bail in a magistrate’s office or court
• If you cannot afford bail you will be locked up until the case is heard, usually about two months after being charged
• If a breathalyser test is being used as evidence, you will appear in court the next weekday in some jurisdictions.

The higher your alcohol level goes,
the more likely you will crash

If your blood alcohol concentration is 0.08 you are four times more likely to crash than if you are sober. With a count of 0.12, your chances are 15 times more likely and at 0.16 your chances of crashing are 30 times more than if you're sober.