One drink over the limit, and you could be in serious trouble if you’re caught driving.

A new Evidential Breathalyser Alcohol Test (EBAT) system is being implemented on SA’s roads in time for the Easter season.

The system, which was first implemented in the Western Cape in 2016 but has now been refined, aims to combat drunk driving by providing immediate and accurate information on a driver’s intoxication level.

BusinessTech reports:

Department of Transport spokesperson, Ishmael Mnisi, said that the new system is a keystone of the Easter campaign with mobile EBAT offices being rolled out from now until the end of October.

Mnisi said that the department already had four centres in place – including one in KZN and the Western Cape, and two in Gauteng – with plans to open one in every province going forward.

This is the very important bit – the results of the EBAT are instant, which means that cases of drunk driving can be dealt with immediately.

Here’s how it works:

• The EBAT system uses a machine that can read the amount of alcohol in a person’s breath;
• When tested, two breath samples must be taken. If the lower of the two EBAT test results is not less than 0,24 mg of alcohol per 1,000 ml of breath, the driver will be charged;
• The instrument will be fitted with a temperature sensor in the hose to regulate the exhaling breath of the subject;
• It is called “evidentiary” as the reading can be produced as evidence to prosecute people accused of drinking and driving. The results are immediate;
• 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 EBAT will work alongside a new set of stricter rules and harsher punishments for drunk drivers.

As part of his Easter road campaign, Nzimande made it clear that his department would be coming down hard on drunk driving in South Africa, with plans to make it a ‘serious offence’.

Mnisi said that this would include a push to have drunk driving rescheduled from a schedule 3 to a schedule 5 offence.

This would place drunk driving in the same ‘category’ of crimes as rape and murder.

“If you have killed someone while drunk driving you will be charged criminally and not just civilly,” Mnisi said.

This means a prison sentence of no less than 15 years.

Drivers found to be intoxicated could also face up seven days behind bars before being considered for bail.

In other words, if you’re planning on drinking on a night out, call an Uber.

[source:businesstech]