Drunk driving has become a major contributor to road fatalities in recent years, leading to several industry stakeholders putting forth suggestions on how to end the plague.
During the most recent 2024/25 festive season, the nation experienced a spike in alcohol-related road accidents and deaths, with an astonishing 3,840 individuals being arrested for drunken driving in a matter of weeks.
The high number is attributed to an alarming lack of regard by motorists for traffic laws, said Deputy Minister of Transport, Mkhuleko Hlengwa.
Over December and early weeks of January, traffic authorities pulled over inebriated drivers at all hours of the day, even as early as nine o’clock in the morning, suggesting it’s not so much that drivers don’t know the rules of the road, but that they don’t care about them.
Apart from the cost of human lives lost, these individuals put unnecessary strain on the country’s infrastructure, emergency response, and healthcare systems.
Hitting them in the pocket
Hlengwa proposed that to reduce instances of drunk driving, the country should explore the idea of including a Road Accident Fund (RAF) Levy in the price of alcohol.
“Currently you have a situation where the Road Accident Fund Levy comes out of the Fuel Levy, and I do not see anything wrong with us instituting within the alcohol pricing system a direct charge for the Road Accident Fund as well, among others, in order for us to actually ensure that the user-pay principle applies for the alcohol users and the kind of behaviors that we see on the road,” said Hlengwa.
“If you hit the pocket, you make quite a significant stride towards ensuring that there’s a second thought to how people conduct themselves and how they drink their alcohol and where they drink their alcohol.”
At present, the RAF Levy accounts for R2.18 of every litre of petrol and diesel sold in the country and is allocated to the Road Accident Fund to compensate victims and families of victims for damages stemming from car accidents.
Between 2022 and 2024, the levy brought in an astonishing R145 billion for the Fund, R142 billion of which was paid out in claims.
Hlengwa contends that if alcohol prices are directly affected by road accidents, it would lead to more drivers thinking twice before getting behind the wheel after having a few drinks.
A life is worth more than a beer
An alternative measure put forth by the Automobile Association (AA) includes instating a zero-alcohol policy on the roads.
At present, South Africa’s blood-alcohol content (BAC) limit is set at 0.05g per 100ml for regular motorists, and professional drivers cannot exceed a reading of 0.02g per 100ml.
Under the new ruling, this would be reduced down to 0.00g per 100ml across the board, meaning you cannot drink at all if you plan on driving soon thereafter.
South Africa witnessed a significant improvement in drunk driving and other alcohol-related injuries during the Covid-19 pandemic, when a temporary prohibition was enacted on alcohol sales.
Hospitals saw a 60% reduction in injuries from road traffic accidents and violent assaults during this period, but cases swiftly returned to normal once the ban was lifted, said the AA.
These statistics point to an urgent need for systemic change to citizens’ general attitudes and behaviour towards alcohol consumption.
The AA notes that alcohol can remain in one’s system for up to eight hours after consumption, and that even one drink is enough to impair your driving abilities.
Not only does being drunk inhibit you reaction time and visual capacity, but it also deteriorates cognitive thinking, leading to poor decisions like forgoing a seatbelt and misreading the road.
The AA thus argues that implementing a zero-tolerance policy is essential for significantly reducing the number of road traffic accidents and associated injuries and deaths.
The Department of Transport previously stated that the new policy would be implemented as far back as 2021, though nothing came of these efforts.
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