Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee on Thursday announced that legislation for breathalyzer testing was in place with effect from June 8.
It is however unclear if it was employed in two recent fatal accidents where drivers were suspected to be under the influence of alcohol.
Efforts by this newspaper to contact the Traffic Chief over the past three days were in vain. However, on Wednesday an officer attached to the department, when questioned on whether the breathalyzer was used following an accident on the East Coast of Demerara last Saturday, informed that use of the device is awaiting the go-ahead of the Home Affairs Minister, noting that a public education programme is currently underway. It is also unclear whether it was used following an East Bank Demarara accident on Wednesday which resulted in the death of a mother of four. The driver involved in that accident was also reportedly under the influence of alcohol.
According to the release from the Government Information Agency,(GINA) on Thursday, The Evidence, Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2008, which was assented to by President Bharrat Jagdeo on May 22 last, had been put into effect on Monday, June 08 last. The release stated that Home Affairs Minister Rohee signed an order which allowed for the implementation of the act which gives the authority to any member of the Guyana Police Force to order the driver/s, suspected of being under the influence of alcohol, to submit to a breathalyzer test either at the scene of an accident or at a nearby police station.
The law provides for a maximum 35 microgrammes of alcohol to 100 milliliters of breath and 80 milligrammes of alcohol to 100 milliliters of blood.
Following last weekend’s accident on the East Coast of Demerara public road which occurred in the vicinity of Bachelor’s Adventure, a number of persons suffered injuries, including passengers who were in a route -44 minibus which was hit from behind by the truck while heading up the East Coast. Persons at the scene recalled that the driver of the truck involved in the four-vehicle collision, was seen throwing away a few bottles of beer at the scene.
Stabroek News reported that Good Hope businessman Parmanand Dass and his wife Liloutie were returning home from Berbice when their grocery van was hit by the truck which was travelling in the opposite direction.
This newspaper understands that the truck driver was arrested by ranks at an East Coast police station on the evening of the accident but was released on station bail sometime after. It is unclear whether he was rearrested following the death of Parmanand who succumbed to his injuries at the Georgetown Public Hospital. The man passed away on Wednesday afternoon while his wife, who was also admitted to the GPH, is now a patient at the Woodlands Hospital.
There were 731 road accidents between 2004 and 2008 which resulted in 835 deaths, GINA stated in its release.
The Breathalyzer (abbreviated word of breath and analyzer) is a device used in law enforcement for estimating the blood alcohol content of a driver’s breath. The device does not directly measure the blood alcohol content or concentration, which would require a blood sample analysis. Instead it estimates blood alcohol content indirectly by measuring the amount of alcohol in one’s breath.
The accuracy of the device’s reading is generally based on electrochemical fuel cell analysis.
