NRSC renews call for police to be provided with more breathalysers

 

The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) has reiterated the need for the Ministry of National Security to provide more breathalysers to the police to help them detect and prosecute motorists driving under the influence.

 

NRSC Vice Chairman Dr. Lucien Jones says the Council has purchased and distributed breathalysers to the police, but the number is not enough. 

 

"So we need to increase the pickup. We need to increase the numbers of breathalysers that we have across the island and we need to increase the training. That is happening now on our part. We have received international funding from the United Nations Road Safety Fund to purchase more breathalysers and train the police to use them and deploy them more effectively," he said. 

 

In the meantime, Dr. Jones does not believe that the National Road Safety Council is effectively fulfilling its mandate under the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport.

 

"We need to become, as recommended, an arm Cabinet and therefore be in a position where we can have all the agencies which have some responsibility for road safety meet together at the start of the year, decide on actions, have funding applied, and therefore play a much greater role in driving down the numbers with this kind of positioning," he insisted.