The amendments to the Road Traffic Act to allow for the introduction and implementation of the penalty point system will be presented to the National Assembly in the coming weeks. The Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Public Infrastructure, National Development Unit, Land Transport and Shipping, Mr A. Bachoo, made the announcement this morning at the opening ceremony of a one-day road safety seminar on ‘New development and effective strategies to manage drink and drunk driving’ at the MITD House, Phoenix.
Minister Bachoo said that with the introduction of the penalty point system, drivers failing to observe the road codes will be severely reprimanded. The upcoming legislation may cause a driver to have his driving licence suspended for at least six months if he has exceeded the threshold limit of 15 penalty points. On a second disqualification, the driving licence shall be cancelled. The penalty point system will trigger the right mindset among drivers so that they become more cautious and diligent, added the Minister.
According to Mr Bachoo, figures show that 30% of drivers killed on our roads have been driving under the influence of alcohol. He warned those who take the risk of driving under the influence of alcohol that there would be zero tolerance. The Minister also said that Government had adopted a road safety strategic approach and would be coming forward with several projects namely the Driver Education and Training Centre, privatisation of the Vehicle Examination Centres, intensive road safety campaigns and procurement of additional speed cameras.
The road safety seminar was organised by Terra, a corporate body, in collaboration with the Special Road Safety Unit of the Prime Minister’s Office for stakeholders of both the public and private sectors. It focused on the effects of alcohol, drugs and medicine on driving ability, drivers’ responsibility as well as the use of technology in enhancing road safety. There was also a presentation of the Alcolock system. The Alcolock, a breath alcohol ignition interlock device, measures the breath alcohol concentration of a driver and prevents the vehicle from starting if alcohol level is over a predetermined limit.
The seminar was conducted by Charles Mercier-Guyon, MD, from the Traffic Medicine Research Centre, France. Dr Mercier-Guyon, a forensic practitioner, is the Secretary of the Medical Council of the French Road Safety Association. In 2004, he initiated France’s national Alcolock programme for drink drivers and received, in 2011, the French Legion of Honour.
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