Bt7 million set aside to catch drunk drivers who break new lower limit

[snoop1130]

Bt7 million set aside to catch drunk drivers who break new lower limit

By The Nation

 

 

THE Public Health Ministry has provided Bt7 million to fund blood alcohol testing on people involved in suspected drunk driving accidents during the ‘Seven dangerous days’ of Songkran, permanent secretary Dr Sopon Mekthon said on Tuesday.

 

The bar was also lowered on the legally acceptable level of blood alcohol for motorists, from the current 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to no higher than 20mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, he said. 

 

If a driver found to have exceeded the limit is under 20 year of age, police would also trace the establishment that sold them the alcohol and would charge the shop owner with selling alcohol to an underage person, he said.

 

Health officials would conduct a blood alcohol test on a case-by-case basis, he said, with samples sent to the Department of Medical Sciences.

 

Meanwhile, Klong Luang police in Pathum Thani arrested the driver of a Bangkok-Lop Buri public transport van on Tuesday for drunk driving. The breathalyser estimated his blood alcohol level was 224mg per 100 ml of blood.

 

Somsak Worachet, 51, had many passengers on board the van when he was arrested at a police checkpoint on Paholyothin Road in Tambon Klong Neung, deputy traffic police inspector, Pol Captain Kongsakul Phuthon, said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30312031

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-4-11

[darksidedog]

7 Million Baht is a drop in the ocean, compared to the revenues likely to be generated from this little exercise. Most of that not reaching official coffers, mind you.

And lets be honest. That cops don't give a sh1t about crashes or safety, but you can bet they will be out there gung ho with the breathalyzers soaking up that cash.

[thequietman]

More worryingly, they don't change the straws and expect you to blow into that thing after some pissed up Thai drunk. 

[doremifasol]

.

C' mon guys.....they have to start from somewhere......

They have a 7 Million Baht budget now and disposable straws are cheap.....

 

I give thumbs up.

.

[Moonmoon]

b4 BIB wants to implement all these rules,catch the Thailand deadly rich kids who DUI and murdered  with their vehicles 1st.

then the citizens can feel there is fairness and have confidence in the justice system

 

 

[wakeupplease]

7 million set aside, nice I will take a trip abroad over the SongKran for heath reasons?

[starky]

Wouldn't matter if acceptable blood alcohol was zero, which it should be for anyone driving any sort of commercial vehicle. A law is only upheld if there is someone to enforce it. Though it would be good if everyone who had an accident was breathalysed, but the problem there is that it's too late for those on the receiving end and that Thais don't exactly have the best record for remaining at the scene of an accident.

[wvavin]

Waste of national revenue!

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Ugh.. the problem is not the already low limit of 50mg.. reducing it further does nothing because even at 50mg people can't drink responsibly (2 glasses) and be confident they're under the limit.   The result is people don't try at all and instead focus on not getting caught.

 

The limit should go UP to 80mg (except for public transport providers and other professional drivers), and then have a lot more enforcement and awareness campaigning. 

 

That also stops it from being essentially a corrupt money making scam by police, as focus shifts to catching actual criminals, driving while severely impaired.  Lock them up.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2017 by WinnieTheKhwai

[williamgeorgeallen]

they just provided the 7 mill and have the equipment already? takes months, even years to carry out buying new kit. tenders have to go out brown envelopes exchanged. i would say product testing but it seems that is not really required as in the case of the bomb detectors that were purchased. the cops should buy their own breathalyzers, they are the ones making a small fortune off them. i know several guys in pattaya who have paid between 7000 and 20000thb for an on the spot drink driving fine. is a gold mine for the cops.

[Prbkk]

2 hours ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

Ugh.. the problem is not the already low limit of 50mg.. reducing it further does nothing because even at 50mg people can't drink responsibly (2 glasses) and be confident they're under the limit.   The result is people don't try at all and instead focus on not getting caught.

 

The limit should go UP to 80mg (except for public transport providers and other professional drivers), and then have a lot more enforcement and awareness campaigning. 

 

That also stops it from being essentially a corrupt money making scam by police, as focus shifts to catching actual criminals, driving while severely impaired.  Lock them up.

 

 

Absultely right. The proposed new limit would mean just one drink for a woman would take her over the legal level and 2 for men.

There is no impairment at .05, limited at .08. The real danger is the binge drinker , rotten drunk....and the problem that there has been little prospect of them being detected ( ...arrested, punished, banned etc).

More testing is good but reducing the legal limit is just PR

 

[DrTuner]

0.2 promille, nice teapot. Means a single small beer and you're toast. 

[Ulic]

This is the first I have heard that the alcohol breathalyzer limit was lowered to 20mg/100ml.

This is lowest I have heard of in a non Muslim country. I am not sure any one could have more

than one drink and many not even one. The whole thing seems ridiculous. 50mg/100ml is

already low. Not sure if this is a BIB money maker or the reaction of a thin skinned leader.

With the police/political reaction to a couple of articles in British tabloids referring to Thailand

as the brothel of the world I am inclined to think the latter.  

[CLW]

"Meanwhile, Klong Luang police in Pathum Thani arrested the driver of a Bangkok-Lop Buri public transport van on Tuesday for drunk driving. The breathalyser estimated his blood alcohol level was 224mg per 100 ml of blood."

 

Is that 2%o ( Promille)?

If yes he was drunk as a skunk and probably not the first time as this level could kill non alcoholics.

 

 

 

 

 

[paulbj2]

3 hours ago, Ulic said:

This is the first I have heard that the alcohol breathalyzer limit was lowered to 20mg/100ml.

This is lowest I have heard of in a non Muslim country. I am not sure any one could have more

than one drink and many not even one. The whole thing seems ridiculous. 50mg/100ml is

already low. Not sure if this is a BIB money maker or the reaction of a thin skinned leader.

With the police/political reaction to a couple of articles in British tabloids referring to Thailand

as the brothel of the world I am inclined to think the latter.  

"This is lowest I have heard of in a non Muslim country." - In that case you haven't looked very hard!

 

Poland, Romania, Sweden, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia, Japan, China, India, Nepal and many others have limits at 20mg/100ml or lower. 

 

In the EU, most countries have the limit at 50mg but the UK still permits 80mg. However, enforcement is the key; in the UK the limit of 80mg is rigidly enforced and backed up with very severe penalties. The minimum sentence the courts in the UK can imposed for exceeding the limit by even 2 or 3 mg is a 12 month driving ban. For offenders who exceed it by a considerable amount, the ban will normally be longer. If a driver commits a second offence , a very long ban is usual and for a third offence, a prison sentence will normally imposed.

 

Given that The UK, the Netherlands and Sweden consistently vie for the crown of "country with the least road accident deaths per 100,000 vehicle kilometres" each year and that Britain's limit is 80mg, the Netherlands is 50mg and Sweden's 20mg, I would suggest it is rigid enforcement that is the key; something I honestly cannot see happening in the LOS. 

 

 

[Grovst]

6 hours ago, Ulic said:

This is the first I have heard that the alcohol breathalyzer limit was lowered to 20mg/100ml.

This is lowest I have heard of in a non Muslim country. I am not sure any one could have more

than one drink and many not even one.

......

Then I would say that You are a lazy or ignorant member of this forum.

Sweden is defenitely NOT a muslim country.

So lift Your eyes and LAZY IGNORANT ass and Google the Swedish limit!

Edited April 12, 2017 by Grovst
Misspelled

[Grubster]

On 4/12/2017 at 4:27 PM, Grovst said:

Then I would say that You are a lazy or ignorant member of this forum.

Sweden is defenitely NOT a muslim country.

So lift Your eyes and LAZY IGNORANT ass and Google the Swedish limit!

Nice guy, you.

[AGareth2]

On 4/12/2017 at 4:27 PM, Grovst said:

Then I would say that You are a lazy or ignorant member of this forum.

Sweden is defenitely NOT a muslim country.

So lift Your eyes and LAZY IGNORANT ass and Google the Swedish limit!

give it 50 years and it will be

so just good planning