Distributing breathalyser kits freely could risk giving the wrong impression that excessive drinking is condoned, insurance association head, Adrian Galea, has warned.
The director general of the Malta Insurance Association was commenting to this newspaper after Social Policy Minister Michael Falzon announced on Monday that about 3,000 self-administered kits would be distributed across the island. The move is part of efforts to curb excessive drinking during village feasts.
Read: Band clubs to get breathalysers in bid to curb binge drinking
While welcoming the decision to address the issue and introduce new measures to discourage excessive drinking, Mr Galea pointed out that handing out breathalysers in such a way could have the opposite impact.
“The good intentions may be defeated if such kits are loosely distributed, conveying the wrong impression that excessive drinking is condoned,” he remarked.
The association has, in recent months, been very vocal about the need for more safety on the roads, even making a series of proposals to the government.
The good intentions may be defeated
Mr Galea said breathalyser kits, while useful to further emphasise the hazards of drink-driving and to help raise awareness on road safety, should not replace monitoring by the authorities.
“Such measures should not be considered as a substitute to ongoing road enforcement by the policing authorities, necessary at ensuring that the rules of the road are upheld and, if not, that the necessary deterrent systems, which includes a combination of fines and penalty points, are applied in the case of those irresponsible drivers who feel they are above the law and compromise the safety of our roads,” Mr Galea continued.
He said that ensuring road safety depended on the implementation of measures that deterred repeated action by drivers. For this reason, the insurance association believed that breathalyser tests should not only be applied in roadside checks but also when serious traffic accidents occurred.
The breathalysers that will be handed out during village feasts are activated by pressing both ends of a small tube towards the centre, with users then exhaling into the side of the tube marked with red arrows twice for 10 seconds. After two to four minutes, small crystals in the tube change colour to a shade of pink. The higher the alcohol level, the darker the colour of the crystals.
The legal alcohol limit for those getting behind the wheel in Malta is 0.5g, which is the EU average.
claire.caruana@timesofmalta.com