Road Safety Articles

Road Safety: An Area of Great Concern
- Article by Adéle Joubert

Road safety initiatives are being implemented by the South African Insurance Association (SAIA) in an attempt to curb the high accident rate in South Africa and to thereby ensure that motor insurance remains affordable. “Motor insurance, our largest class of business is under considerable pressure with around 70% of insurance claims being road accident related and alcohol consumption is a factor in many of these instances,” says SAIA spokesperson.

One of the SAIA’s most recent initiatives to curtail alcohol related road accidents, on behalf of its members in the short-term insurance industry, is the creation of a second Alcohol Testing blood alcohol testing centre in partnership with Business Against Crime South Africa and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department.

“The new breathalyzer technology that is used in this centre now enables the police to obtain a breath alcohol sample that can be used as evidence of alcohol consumption in a court. In the past, a blood alcohol sample had to be taken,” says Wayne Minnaar, spokesperson for the South African Police Services.

“In addition to alcohol, with the vehicle population estimated at over 9.5 million, traffic density on South African roads has also increased the frequency of vehicle accidents. This has not only had an effect on the short-term insurance industry, but in turn, has cost our economy enormous amounts of money,” says SAIA's spokesperson.

“The short-term insurance industry has also experienced a continued increase in the average cost of repairs and this has been associated with the introduction of a variety of imported vehicles into the market. In addition, the reduction in new vehicle sales adds even more pressure to motor accounts. While sophisticated underwriting tools have been implemented by insurers in an attempt to effectively manage costs, some external factors, such as the roadworthiness of vehicles, have compounded this predicament,” says SAIA's spokesperson.

Road safety is an international challenge. In the United Nations General Assembly report titled 2003 Road Traffic Injuries and their Impact on Societies, it is stated that “Road traffic injuries are a global problem affecting all sectors of society. To date, road safety has received insufficient attention at the international and national levels. This has resulted in part from a lack of political responsibility and multidisciplinary collaboration needed to tackle it effectively.”

Arrive Alive reports that every day in South Africa an average of 36 lives are lost on our roads. Of these, 15 are pedestrians and 3 are killed in taxi-related incidents.

“SAIA believes that the road safety statistics are appalling and that it is time that government and private industry get together to develop a national initiative to stop this carnage on our roads. South Africa can not afford to continue with the current appalling losses when something can be done to reduce the present unacceptable statistics and to keep motor insurance affordable,” says SAIA spokesperson.

The link between crime and road safety
- Article by Viviene Pearson

Most people would be very concerned about the fact that around 50 people are murdered in South Africa daily, however, not as many seem to be as worried about the fact that around 36 people lose their lives in road accidents daily. In fact, an important link between crime and road safety exists in more ways than one.

“In general, a link between high crime rates and high accident rates in South Africa exists because of a distinct lack of a law abiding culture and society, amongst many other reasons,” says Viviene Pearson, Manager: Image and Reputation of SAIA.

Statistics show that ninety (90) percent of all road accidents are preceded by a road traffic offence. It is against the law to drive under the influence of alcohol for example, just as it is to drive over the speed limit, or to skip a traffic light, or to drive a motor vehicle that is not roadworthy, or to drive without a license, adds Pearson.

Not only can any of these offences end up in a tragic motor vehicle accident, with resultant loss of lives, assets as well as money, they can also lead to the driver of the vehicle ending up with a criminal record. Should someone be injured or killed in such an accident, serious charges can be laid at the door of the driver of the vehicle including culpable homicide. Even if an accident does not happen, and a driver of a vehicle is found to be disregarding the law, for example driving under the influence of alcohol, the driver can end up with a criminal record for the offence itself.

“Another link exists between high motor vehicle accident rates and high motor vehicle crime rates,” Pearson adds.

Motor vehicles that are stolen are usually stolen for monetary gain. Some vehicles are stolen for the parts market and end up in ‘chop shops’. The estimated percentage of stolen vehicles ending up in ‘chop shops’, is in the region of 10%. In addition, it is estimated that 30% of stolen vehicles are ‘exported’ to other countries. This means that around 60% of all stolen vehicles land up re-registered on our own roads, that is they end up in the ‘domestic market’.

“Many methods exist to make re-registration of vehicles possible. One of these include buying accident damaged vehicles and/or wrecks, or even just the records of these vehicles, in order to use these records for stolen vehicles. The details of the stolen vehicle are then changed to match the record of the accident damaged vehicle. In this way a stolen vehicle obtains a legitimate life if its own,” says Pearson.

It is for these reasons, as well as the unacceptable losses of many human lives and the cost of the high accident rates on our economy as well as on our industry that the South African Insurance Association is increasingly giving attention to road safety matters in addition to our historical attention to vehicle and other crime in South Africa.

This could happen to you…
The procedures followed when you are stopped for an alcohol breathalyzer test while driving.
- Article by Adéle Joubert

The recently opened Alcohol Testing blood alcohol testing centre in Johannesburg, created by the South African Insurance Association (SAIA), in partnership with Business Against Crime South Africa and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department is certainly not the place where anybody would like to find themselves on a Saturday evening, or any other day or night.

“The new breathalyzer technology that is used in this centre now enables the police to obtain a breath alcohol sample, within minutes, that can be used as evidence of alcohol consumption in a court. In the past, a blood alcohol sample had to be taken, which delayed the process quite substantially,” says Wayne Minnaar, spokesperson for the South African Police Services (SAPS).

“It would have been ideal to give everybody in South Africa the opportunity to have a guided walk through a Alcohol Testing alcohol testing centre, of course, without the arresting officer and the people who are waiting to be tested because they are suspected to be under the influence of alcohol around, which would have been the case in a real situation. This experience as well as learning more about the devastating consequences of drunken driving, from being arrested like a criminal to having a criminal record after only two glasses of wine, would give people a big enough shock to realise the severity of such an offence,” says Viviene Pearson, SAIA Manager: Image & Reputation.

As part of the South African criminal justice system, new methods of no tolerance with regards to road safety are being put in place to benefit and protect everybody in our country. “Road safety initiatives should not be seen as a negative thing, as it could save your life or the life of a loved one,” says Ms Pearson.

In order to avoid ever having to face the consequences of drunken driving, it is important to have detailed knowledge around this up to now, grey area. As a public responsibility, SAIA has put together these interesting questions and answers in consultation with the JMPD (Wayne Minnaar) and Medi-Clinic (Dr Hannes Loots):

Question: What is the legal limit and how many drinks can one have before reaching the limit?

Answer: There is a difference between the legal limit of a blood sample and the legal limit of a breath sample. With a blood sample, alcohol consumption is measured in milligrams and the legal limit is 0.05 grams.

However, with a breath sample (as the case would be in an Alcohol Testing Centre), alcohol consumption is measured in millilitres and the legal limit is 0.24 milligrams per 1 000 millilitres of breath. Of course, much lower limits apply to people who have professional driving permits.

The new breathalyser technology that is used in the Randburg and Johannesburg Alcohol Testing Centres, allows for samples to be attached to the docket without having to take a blood sample to serve as evidence in court.

However, the breath and blood samples equates to the same volume of litres that an average person (who weighs approximately 70 kilogram) could consume, which is no more than approximately 2 glasses of wine, or no more that 2 glasses of beer, or no more than one double tot of spirit liqueur every two hours.

Question: What happens when you are taken to an Alcohol Testing Centre?

Answer: When stopped on the side of the road, for instance in a road block, the police officer will ascertain weather a driver is under the influence or not, by doing observations, such as looking into the person’s eyes (whether it is bloodshot), determining whether the person’s speech is slurred, determining whether the person is unsteady on his/her feet or smells of liqueur (sobriety test). Should the officer judge that the person might be under the influence, he/she will be placed under arrest and taken to an Alcohol Testing Centre.

At the Alcohol Testing Centre, you complete a breathalyser test (within a few minutes, depending on the number of people who need to give a breath sample) and a docket is completed.

The Alcohol Testing Centre has new intoxymetres (breathalyzers), which gives four print outs, each containing the case number, the date, the time, the person’s name and the alcohol reading. One print out goes into the docket, one goes to the person, one goes to the arresting officer for his records and the last one goes to the officer who does the test for his records. Any one of these copies can be used in court as evidence that a person has consumed alcohol.

You are then taken to a police station where the docket is handed in and where the person under the influence is placed in the police cells. The person may be released after sobering up and after paying bail. People who are unable to pay the bail, or who are extremely highly intoxicated, or who resist being arrested on the side of the road, might have to spend the night in prison.

The following day the person will be taken to a court where the case will be either postponed or heard. Should a person be found guilty for driving under the influence in court of law, he/she will have a criminal record for the rest of his/her life.

Question: Can big and strong people consume more alcohol than smaller people before reaching the same legal limit and why / why not?

Answer: The content may vary slightly from person to person, which is why the average person can consume no more than approximately 2 glasses of wine, or no more that 2 glasses of beer, or no more than one double tot of spirit liqueur every two hours. For instance, a bigger person with an empty stomach may have the same alcohol content as a smaller person who had eaten something. However, everybody has 6 litres of blood and therefore, the content variations will be so small that it would be almost insignificant.

Therefore, a muscular male weighing 120 kilogram (who have something substantial in his stomach) may be able to consumer more alcohol before looking or feeling drunk because of his metabolism and weight. However, should he be tested, his blood or breath sample would show the same reading as that of a very small person (with almost nothing in his/her stomach) who consumed the same amount of liquor.

Question: Would a person be able to sober up quicker (and lower his/her breath/blood alcohol reading) if he/she drink lots of water, eat a big meal, or chew chewing gum and why/why not? How long does it take to sober up?

Answer: If a person under the influence would, for instance, drink lots of water, it would help him/her to get the alcohol out of his/her system quicker, and then that person might appear sober; however, one can not lessen the amount (milligrams) of alcohol in ones system by mixing it with water (in an attempt to affect the blood/breath alcohol reading)

Question: Would it help if you blow softly or inhale when you are tested with an Alcohol Testing breathalyzer?

Answer: If a person does not blow hard enough to provide sufficient air into the breathalyzer, it would not give a reading, which means that the process would have to be repeated.

Question: If you are able to walk in a straight line and “feel fine”, are you necessarily in a condition to drive?

Answer: People who have consumed over the limit will normally be unable to walk straight on a straight line, however, alcohol affects different people differently, some people may feel fine and be able to walk on a straight line and still be over the limit. Usually, unfortunately when someone is over the limit they would feel more than fine, which is exactly the problem

Question: What will happen when you are over the limit and causes one of your passengers, or a pedestrian to lose his/her life?

Answer: You will face a charge of culpable homicide for causing the death of a person as well as a charge of drunken driving. However, court cases might have different outcomes as each case is based on its merits. One person (who is the sole provider for three kids for instance) might be released after paying a fine of R20 000 where another person might be jailed. However, in both cases the person will have a criminal record.

Question: If you are over the limit when tested, will the outcome always be a criminal record, or would it be possible to get away with a fine only?

Answer: After being found guilty of driving under the influence in court of law you will ultimately have a criminal record.

Question: How could one avoid causing an accident because of driving under the influence and what are the options if you realise that you should not drive after having a few drinks?

Answer: It is highly recommended that a driver who has consumed alcohol should rather arrange a cab to take him/her home, arrange with someone to come and fetch him/her and take him/her home, sleep over at the place if possible or, to appoint a dedicated driver who can be trusted not to consume alcohol to take him/her home. The JMPD strongly recommends that companies should make arrangements for people to be driven home after consuming alcohol at work functions.

Question: How long does it take to sober up enough to be able to drive after drinking too much? What could be done to speed up the process?

Answer: The more liquor the driver consumes, the longer it will take for the driver to sober up. It could even take until the next morning for the person to sober up.

Insurance consequences in the case of drunk driving
- Article by Viviene Pearson

When one has the unfortunate experience to land up in a motor vehicle accident, many bad consequences could be suffered. The least of all may be the worry about who is going to pay for the damage to the vehicles involved.

That is what insurance is for though, isn’t it?

“That is certainly true,” says Viviene Pearson, Image and Reputation Manager for the South African Insurance Association (SAIA).

However, an insurance contract is just that, a contract. And most insurance contracts will exclude claims that resulted from an accident that happened while the driver was under the influence of alcohol. Contracts will differ from insurance company to insurance company but most will state quite clearly that the insurer will not be liable for any accident, injury, loss, damage or liability in the case of drunken driving, or driving under the influence of alcohol, or even driving while having a higher concentration of alcohol in your blood or breath that is allowed by law. So, not only could the damage to your car not be covered, but any personal injury or liability claims from passengers or others may also become the problem of the individual involved.

Insurance policies will have different clauses. Some will only exclude claims when driving under the influence is proven, others will exclude claims where it can be proven that a person had a concentration of alcohol in his bloodstream or breath at the time of the incident or was driving under the influence of alcohol. In some instances, even claims where the driver of the vehicle was under the influence of alcohol without the knowledge and/or consent of the policyholder could be excluded.

“Driving under the influence of alcohol is illegal, as is drunken driving. Insurance contracts cannot go beyond the law of the country,” added Ms Pearson.

Apart from quite possibly not having your insurance claim paid, and having to carry the cost of the damage yourself, one can experience even more problems with regards to insurance. Your insurer could quite possibly decide that you are too high a risk for its appetite and decide not to continue to insure you. In this case, this cancellation of insurance will be noted and shared and you might even find it difficult to get insurance from any other insurer.

“This could have quite far reaching consequences. It is, for instance, impossible to buy a car on higher purchase without insurance,” Ms Pearson added.

“It seems as if it should be quite simple. No-one should endanger themselves, or their loved ones, or even complete strangers by drinking and driving. And no one should jeapordise his or her insurance and/or insurability by doing so either. The potential consequences are just not worth it,” Ms Pearson concluded.

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