- Under the new law signed last week, motorists found guilty of drunk driving risk a fine not exceeding Sh100,000, a two-year prison term, or both.
- Per the breathalyser scale, a driver is given a clean bill of health to drive if their alcohol level ranges between zero and 0.29 on the calibrator.
Image: FILE
The use of alcoblow on the Kenyan roads will wait a bit longer as the National Transport and Safety Authority seeks public opinion on the mobilisation of a new law on its application.
The agency said they have formulated statutory instruments to support effective road safety management in Kenya.
The instruments include Draft Motor Vehicle Inspection Regulations, 2022 and Draft Traffic (Drunk Driving) Rules, 2022.
NTSA wants the public to give their opinion on how the regulations will be implemented.
The memoranda should be emailed to [email protected] on or before July 29, 2022. The Draft Regulations and Rules are available for download on the authority's website.
Part of the draft regulations say refusal to provide a specimen when required to do so by a police officer in uniform shall be an offence and a person shall be deemed to be over the prescribed limit and subject to a penalty which deems one as guilty of the offence.
This comes even as the Traffic (Amendment) Act of 2022, which reinstated breathalysers also known as alcoblow on the Kenyan roads, is being mobilised.
On June 21, 2022, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the Traffic (Amendment) Bill by Tiaty MP William Kamket, an improvement to the parent law following a directive by the Court of Appeal in 2017, and set July 11, 2022 as its starting date.
The court had declared the use of breathalysers on Kenyan roads illegal.
In April, 2017, Court of Appleal judges GBM Kariuki, Festus Azangalala and Fatuma Sichale ruled that the law that introduced the alcoblow was illegal because it violated the Traffic Act.
“A person who, when driving or attempting to drive, or in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place is under the influence of an alcoholic drink or a drug beyond the prescribed limits, shall be guilty of an offence,” the new law reads.
That person shall also be liable to a fine not exceeding Sh100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.
The law requires that no driver should handle a motor vehicle if he or she has consumed alcohol in excess of 35 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath, 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath and 107 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of urine.
The new law further says all private vehicles which are more than four years old from the recorded date of manufacture shall undergo a motor vehicle inspection test after every two years.
Per the breathalyser scale, a driver is given a clean bill of health to drive if their alcohol level ranges between zero and 0.29 on the calibrator.
Drivers of private vehicles are allowed 0.35 microgrammes maximum intoxication, while those operating public service vehicles are completely prohibited from taking liquor and their test result should be zero.
(edited by Amol Awuor)