• The Transport minister in SA is calling for the blood alcohol content of drivers to be reduced to 0 per cent
Image: STAR ILLUSTRATED
Once upon a time, I must admit, I didn't think too deeply about driving while under the influence of booze.
It wasn't because I was ignorant of the effect even a little alcohol can have on one's driving skills, but in spite of that knowledge.
At one place where I worked in my 30s, we even used to exchange notes on where the traffic police and their alcohol gadgets were situated. Some people went to great lengths to dodge them, to the point of hiring drivers just to get them past police checkpoints.
I even boasted about the fact that there were no roadblocks between my office in the CBD and my flat in Westlands or even between my local and home, which meant I never had to worry about taking the alcohol test or being asked for a bribe.
I was lucky in that, during those years, I never once had an accident, but one day, it dawned on me that my good fortune couldn't last forever, and so I began to take a taxi when I went carousing.
I've written here before of how when we first moved back to Cape Town, one of the local newspapers ran a name and shame list of everyone arrested for drinking and driving one weekend.
If ever the 'no drinking and driving' mantra needed reinforcement, that was surely it.
Anyway, recently here in South Africa, the introduction of a "none for the road" policy has been proposed. The Transport minister is calling for the blood alcohol content of drivers to be reduced to 0 per cent.
Where once I'd have looked for reasons to oppose it as being too harsh and possibly even a sign of the increasing reach of the nanny state, I now fully support the plan.
Not because I've become a conservative old fogey but because it was always the right thing to do.
If you are going to drink, you have absolutely no reason to get behind the wheel, no matter how you try and justify it.
Even the brewers are getting behind none for the road. In a press release, South African Breweries recently said in what on the surface at least appears to be counter-intuitive:
“As a leading producer of alcohol, we want to take the lead in helping to reduce the misuse of alcohol and the harm it causes and consistently encourage responsible consumption. We believe the most drastic steps need to be taken to reduce even further the carnage on our roads."
They have gone as far as rebranding their trucks with the ‘None for the Road’ messaging to support the campaign and visibly encourage responsible behaviour and safer roads.
Not to be left behind, the South African wine industry has introduced a new code that will serve as a guideline for responsible marketing of alcoholic products in the local market under the auspices of Aware.org (the local association for alcohol responsibility and education), with the aim to provide clear guidelines for the responsible marketing of wine and other liquor products, and thereby curbing alcohol abuse in communities.
Will you be having one for the road and driving?