In keeping with our commitment to addressing the scourge of drink
driving, and the deadly effect it has on the citizens of this province,
the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works has been given
the greenlight to reintroduce Evidentiary Breath Alcohol Tester (EBAT,
commonly referred to as the "Dräger" breathalyser) as from 1 August
2016. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has confirmed that the
reintroduction can take place in August, and is to be piloted in the
Western Cape.
How it works:
Evidentiary breath alcohol testing (EBAT) uses a machine which can read how much alcohol is in a person's breath.
It is called "evidentiary" as the reading can be produced as evidence to prosecute people accused of drinking and driving.
This machine, the people who operate it, and the location it operates
in, must all pass a very specific and demanding set of tests in order to
be used to prosecute suspects.
The reintroduction of EBAT is the culmination of years of dedicated work
by the Department of Transport and Public Works and Safely Home,
following the State v Hendricks judgement in 2011 which saw the Dräger
breathalyser being withdrawn from use. In the case, the judge found that
there were problems in some of the ways in which the Dräger device was
used, leading to the acquittal of the accussed who had been charged with
driving with a breath alcohol level higher than the legal limit of
0.24mg per 1,000ml.
More importantly, however, is that the judge also found that
breathalysers are a reliable means of testing for alcohol in a suspect,
and that they should be used as a tool to "eradicate the scourge of
drunk driving for the betterment of society".
Using the judgement as a guiding tool, the Department of Transport and
Public Works then created a task team to work through and correct all of
the problems which the court had identified. The task team also
included experts from the National Prosecuting Authority, the National
Department of Transport, the South African Bureau of Standards, the
Western Cape Provincial Traffic Services, and the Gene Louw Traffic
College. The task team has now completed its work.
We are now ready for the full rollout of EBAT across the province as of 1 August 2016.
We are confident that the reintroduction of EBAT will add yet another
weapon in our arsenal to combat the illicit effects of drink driving,
and errant road user behaviour. Our collective efforts, as part of the
Safely Home campaign, will undoubtedly go a long way to ridding our
roads of dangerous drunk drivers.
I have long maintained that a crucial element to reversing errant road
user behaviour is to impose harsh and appropriate consequences. I am
confident that the reintroduction of EBAT will see offenders recieve
swift justice, thereby deterring others from engaging in such
life-threatening behaviour, and refraining from getting behind the wheel
of a car after having consumed alcohol.
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