The passage of amendments to the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act now paves the way for drunk drivers to be charged with motor manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm.
The amendments were passed on Monday in the National Assembly with the full support of the government side of the House and lone opposition member, Deputy Speaker and Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party, Lenox Shuman.
The Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2022 has been amended to provide for the offences of motor manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm while driving under the influence of alcohol or a drug. The Bill also amends the sections of the Principal Act relating to the offences of causing death by reckless or dangerous driving, driving under the influence of drink or drugs, and driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle when the person has consumed alcohol that exceeds the prescribed limits.
Speaking at length on the rationale behind the amendments to the act, Attorney General Anil Nandlall declared that road fatalities in the country have become a “chronic” issue.
Using data from the Guyana Police Force, the Attorney General informed that over a hundred persons die annually from road carnage.
He stated that many persons hold the belief that consuming alcohol does not impair their ability to drive but the daily headlines paint a different reality. Nandlall stated that with the frequent instances of road carnage and driving under the influence, his government felt compelled to make an intervention. Though it might be considered a “drastic intervention,” it must be done to simply to save lives and the citizens of this country.
“Our government’s priority is the protection of our citizens. Public safety is an important objective and security priority, of our government. An integral factor in the equation of public safety is [the] safety of our roadways. We must be able to traverse our roadways. Our children must be able to traverse our roadways. Our citizens must be able to traverse our roadways with a sense of security and psychological peace of mind that some erratic, drunken driver is not using his vehicle as a lethal weapon along the roadways of this country. We must have that sense of security,” Nandlall emphasised.
The Minister of Legal Affairs went on to point out that even with the new amendments from government’s side, “Every member of society, every responsible organisation in this country must join hands with our government, as we begin to chart a new course of making our roads safe.”
Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, who also spoke in favour of the bill told the House that the legislation is a significant step towards the reduction of the road carnage.
He pointed out that while there has been a decrease in road deaths by 28.8 per cent in the last year, this piece of legislation will allow for a further reduction once its stringent measures are enforced.
“I think now we have a better course of action… we have not only the tools, but we also have to do the awareness, taking it to the population, clearly to drivers and would be drivers, what expectations are [and] what the legal sorts are.”
Benn also used his time to call for more work to be done to target the 15 to 34 age group of drivers who are the ones dominating accidents.
Minister of Human Ser-vices and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud in her remarks supporting the bill stated that the measures to curb driving under the influence are most timely as the penalties will be a reminder to drivers contemplating careless driving.
“I hope that with these measures put in place through the new pieces of legislation, we can move in a direction where people see the need to have a Guyana that is completely law-abiding, really built on the fact that you need to preserve the life of every citizen of this country. Whether we choose to go about it in a non-thinking way or do it consciously and [as the] centre of who we are and what we are as Guyanese, we must be responsible people.”
Education Minister Priya Manickchand while addressing the House posited that anyone facing any of the new penalties from this amended act is only facing it because they invited it on themselves. She went on to remind that it is always the driver’s choice to consume alcohol and then drive.
Nothing heroic
“…There is nothing heroic or cool when you are driving drunk when you think of the harm you can cause to yourself and the pain you can cause to parents and siblings, or the pain you can cause to someone else that you killed on the road because you were having fun…”
The bill’s explanatory memorandum states, “… consequential amendments are also made to the procedural provisions of the Act dealing with the testing of the breath and blood of the accused. Importantly, this Bill also provides for dissuasive penalties namely imprisonment, harsher fines and permanent disqualification from holding or obtaining a licence. These measures are important considering the risk of car accidents, severe injury or death that can result from a person driving under the influence of alcohol or a drug.”
The draft bill amends the Principal Act to introduce Section 35A.
The new section reads “(1) Any person who causes the death of another person by the driving of a motor vehicle on the road or other public place while under the influence of drink or a drug to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle shall be guilty of motor manslaughter and shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a term of imprisonment of not less than ten years.
(2) Any person who causes grievous bodily harm to another person by the driving of a motor vehicle on the road or other public place while under the influence of a drink or a drug to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a term of imprisonment of not less than five years.”
Section 35A also provides for instances where the jury is not satisfied that a defendant’s driving was the cause of the death or the grievous bodily harm rather they are guilty of driving under the influence and to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle, it shall be lawful for the jury or magistrate to convict the person of driving a motor vehicle under the influence of drink or a drug. Additionally, conviction under this new section also mandates the suspension of the convicted person’s licence for three years.
In the event of a second conviction, the guilty driver will be permanently barred from holding or obtaining a licence.
Section 39 (1) of the Principal Act is also amended to increase the penalties for driving under the influence. Currently, the penalty is a fine ranging from $30,000 to $60,000 or imprisonment for twelve months and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, a fine ranging from $40,000 to $80,000 and imprisonment. The amendment would see first-time convicts paying no less than $200,000 and a second conviction fetches a fine of no less than $300,000.
Additionally, Section 39 (2) is amended to provide for the suspension of a convicted drunk driver for 12 months upon first conviction while 24 months is proposed for a second conviction. A third conviction would attract permanent disqualification from holding or obtaining a licence.
The bill also introduces Section 38A which provides for the temporary suspension of a licence pending the determination of a charge. It caters for when a person is charged for the second time with contravening the provisions of section 35A (motor manslaughter or causing grievous bodily harm while driving under the influence of drink or a drug), Section 39 (driving under the influence of drink or a drug) or Section 39A (driving or being in charge of a vehicle while breath or blood alcohol levels exceeds the prescribed limit), the court may order the suspension of the licence of that person pending the determination of the charge and upon suspension, the licence of the person shall be surrendered as soon as practicable to the court before which the person is charged.
Where the person is charged a third time with the aforementioned offences the court shall order the suspension of their licence pending the determination of the charge.
Any person who fails to surrender the licence shall be guilty of an offence of which the penalty is a fine of $100,000 or imprisonment for three months, the new amendment provides.
The bill also now empowers a constable to administer a breath alcohol test while a new amendment is inserted mandating that the constable operating the breathalyzer ensure that the instrument is properly calibrated and certified. Additionally, Section 39D of the Principal Act is also amended to cater for laboratory tests of blood specimens.
