Youngsters take precautions against drink driving laws
Fine for first-time offenders tripled to €1,200
As they gear up for the festive season, young people are taking extra precautions to ensure they are not caught drink driving for fear of being slapped with a hefty fine.
Young people are warning each other about changes in the law over social networks like Facebook and planning group transport for events during which they are planning to binge.
A campaign launched last week led many to believe laws had been changed just before Christmas but the amendments were actually made at the end of July.
A fine of up to €465 for a first-time offence has practically tripled to €1,200, and those who break the law could also face a prison term of less than three months. Those convicted for a second time run the risk of being slapped with a €2,300 fine or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both.
The new laws also make it more difficult for people to refuse a breathalyser test. Before July, police had no power to force drivers to take the test and those who refused could get away scot-free.
Now, drivers who do not comply will be automatically considered guilty of drink-driving, unless they can prove otherwise.
However, it is not true police have been given the go-ahead to hold random breathalyser tests even when they have no reasonable suspicion that someone is driving drunk. This was a proposal made by Sedqa and backed by the Health Minister Joseph Cassar.
However, it has not been taken up by the Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici who is well aware of the controversial issue of searches during road blocks, following a European Court of Human Rights judgment.
In January the ECHR found that police stop-and-search powers, under the UK’s anti-terrorism legislation, were too broad and interfered with an individual’s right to privacy. But the laws have changed to enable the police to invest in and use a wider range of breathalysers, including more compact ones which make their lives easier.