THEY will drink and they will drive - never mind that they could
cause accidents in which people might die.
Concern for others, and for themselves, be dashed.
This despite headlines in the past two weeks alone focusing on at
least one woman who was killed in a drink-driving incident and two
celebrities landing up in court for driving under the
influence.
And on May 1, a 28-year-old suspected of drink driving slammed his
car into a bus stop on Penang Road, injuring three women.
This newspaper got a first-hand look at the problem on Friday and
Saturday, observing two late-night police roadblocks and conducting
breathalyser tests of its own.
At roadblocks in Outram and Tampines roads between 11.30pm on
Friday and 4.45am the next day, one in four of the 39 motorists
tested were arrested for drink driving.
The roadblocks come after about 60 people were charged with drink
driving last week alone.
Till March this year, 914 motorists - 141 of whom were involved in
accidents - were held for drink-driving. In the same period last
year, 753 people were held, including 134 involved in
accidents.
Last year, 25 people died in crashes involving drunk drivers, up
from 20 in 2005, and 336 were injured - a 50 per cent jump from the
previous year.
Armed with two machines from Draeger Safety Asia, the journalists
met sales executive Freddy Tan at around 2am on Saturday at
nightspot Zouk.
He agreed to take the test, confident he would be fine - but he
failed. He logged 37ug (microgrammes) of alcohol per 100ml of
breath, just above the legal limit of 35ug.
Despite having had five mugs of beer, he said: 'I'm driving later
tonight, and I can reach home safe and sound. I feel
alright.'
He was among 35 motorists tested by the Straits Times at Zouk,
Clarke Quay and St James Power Station between midnight and 4am on
Saturday. Many who refused staggered into their cars and drove
off.
Five people failed the test, including Mr Tan and one Ms Goh, a
business development manager partying at St James.
The 29-year-old took the test just as she was about to drive away
at about 3am.
The result: 62ug - nearly twice the legal limit.
She said: 'I have never been stopped before at roadblocks even
though I drank. Even if I were to be stopped, I think I could wing
it.'
But, in the end, a friend drove her home.
While it was not clear if Mr Tan followed through on his intention
to drive home, nine others who did ended up being arrested by
police.
Current laws state that first-time drink drivers can be fined up to
$5,000, jailed for six months and banned from driving for at least
a year.
While some have called for jail time and fines to be increased,
former district court judge Lee Teck Leng believes that that might
not help.
'What may actually be more effective is imposing a significantly
higher driving disqualification,' said Mr Lee.
Now a lawyer, Mr Lee sat through more than 100 drink-driving cases
in 1995 when he was judge in the Traffic Court.
On May 9, the same court saw ex-show host Benedict Goh, 37, being
charged with two counts of drink driving. The next day, actor
Christopher Lee, 35, was sentenced to four weeks in jail and fined
$4,500 for drink-driving and hit-and-run offences.
Straits Times 14 May
