While the decision by the Transport Department to reduce the legal blood alcohol concentration for drivers to zero is politically understandable, it is barely a solution to the flagrant disregard of the law by the bulk of the country’s drivers. Had the department’s approach to the drunk-driving problem been purely evidence-based, it would have come to the conclusion that reducing the legal alcohol limit to zero would achieve little beyond creating the illusion of decisive action. Of course, there cannot be any serious argument to be made in defence of drunk driving: Alcohol impairs judgment, slows reaction time and dulls risk perception.
In a country with poor road infrastructure, unroadworthy vehicles and a culture of lawlessness, introducing alcohol into the mix is suicidal. The statistics are unambiguous: Alcohol is a major contributor to fatal crashes. Every life lost to a drunk driver is one too many.
However, having said that, public policy must be judged not by its rhetorical purity, but by its practical effect. A zero-alcohol limit assumes a level of enforcement capacity and institutional discipline that South Africa simply does not possess. South Africa already has relatively strict drunk-driving laws by global standards, with its legal limit lower than in many developed countries, and the penalties are severe, at least on paper.
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However, despite this, drunk driving remains widespread. The uncomfortable truth is that many motorists drink and drive not because the law permits it, but because they do not believe they will be caught. That belief is not irrational as roadblocks are sporadic, breathalysers are often unavailable or malfunctioning, and traffic policing capacity varies wildly between provinces and municipalities.
In some areas, enforcement peaks during high-profile operations over holidays, only to evaporate once the media spotlight fades. Corruption is also a major factor eroding deterrence, with motorists able to negotiate their way out of consequences at the roadside. But what Duma did not tell the public was that all those individuals had to be freed within hours. In terms of the law, a motorist arrested for suspected drunk-driving can only be convicted on the basis of blood test results, and not on the basis of what the breathalyser says about their state of sobriety.
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