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Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness and ACP Gary McKenzie
The Government is considering lowering the legal alcohol limit for drivers, in a bid to further reduce the incidence of road crashes and fatalities.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness disclosed the plan following the most recent meeting of the National Road Safety Council, for which he's the Chairman.
"We're giving notice that we're in that process of considering what the threshold should be, ad the threshold is probably going to go closer to zero," he said.
The current legal threshold in Jamaica is 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 milliletres of breath.
Bujt, Assistant Commissioner Dr Gary McKenzie, Commanding Officer for the Public Safety & Traffic Enforcement Branch, is cautioning motorists that, once alcohol is detected, even if it is below the legal limit, they could still find themselves in trouble with the law in the event of a crash.
He said it is mandatory for drivers involved in a crash to be given a breathalyser test but the police may also administer the test, based on "reasonable suspicion" of impairment.
Forty new breathalyser machines were presented to the police on Thursday during that meeting of the National Road Safety Council at the Office of the Prime Minister.
The machines were purchased by the Pan American Health Authority with funding from the UN Road Safety Fund.
The police are now hoping that the number of road fatalities will continue to decline with this boost in their capacity to test for drink-driving.
More machines
ACP McKenzie also said the police now have 100 devices to measure breath alcohol content, with more on order.
The addition of the new machines has allowed the police to be able to monitor more than 20 new sites for drink-driving.
He disclosed that 50 of the machines can provide a statement on site and will be deployed at targeted locations.
Vice Chair of the National Road Safety Council Dr Lucien Jones repeated his call for motorists to exercise extreme caution going into the long Easter weekend.
Data from the Island Traffic Authority indicate that 105 road fatalities were recorded from 92 crashes up to April 17 this year.
This is 21 per cent fewer thanduring the corresponding period last year.
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