Bill to severely punish drunk drivers tabbed

Aug 11, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Amendment Bill 2022 which seeks to add more jail time and increase fines for drunk drivers was tabled in the National Assembly on Monday.

A crashed vehicle at the scene of a fatal accident (Kaieteur News file photo)

The Bill was presented two months after the Cabinet gave its approval for the amendments. The current penalty for persons found driving above the prescribed alcohol limit is $7,500. The new proposal is for it to be increased to $200,000 and the disqualification of licence where the person is charged with two consecutive offences from 12 months to 24 months.

A draft of the legislation seeks to amend the Principal Act by inserting a new section, 35A. That section states that a person can be found guilty of “motor manslaughter,” where that person causes the death of another person while driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or a drug.

This offence is an indictable one and the penalty is a term of imprisonment of not less than 10 years. Where the person has caused grievous bodily harm to another person, while driving under the influence, the penalty is a term of imprisonment of not less than five years.

It is further proposed that a person convicted under this section shall be disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence for three years. Persons can also be disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence for 12 months.

Where the person is convicted for two consecutive offences, the person shall be disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence for 24 months, and where there is a third conviction, the person shall be permanently disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence.

At present, the penalty for driving under the influence and losing control of the vehicle is a fine ranging from $30,000 to $60,000 or imprisonment for 12 months and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, there is a fine ranging from $40,000 to $80,000 and imprisonment.

It is now proposed that the fines be increased to not less than $200,000 for first-time offenders and $300,000 for second-time offenders. The proposed amendment also places the responsibility of traffic ranks to ensure that before using a breathalyser instrument, it is in satisfactory condition and calibrated so that it produces an accurate breath analysis result. Guyanese has long proposed that the laws be changed to ensure that errand drivers could face the possibility of having their driver’s licence suspended.

Back in May when the proposed amendments were first made public, Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, said that the move to amend the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act is “in response to the large number of motor vehicular accidents, inclusive of those resulting in fatalities on our public roadways, specifically caused by an unacceptable high incidence of drunken driving.

He explained that the Government of Guyana has made a decision to take a series of measures to confront this serious problem. According to the AG, legislative reform is one of those measures. In this regard, the government is proposing to strengthen and expand existing legislation and imposing more punitive measures.

Once amended, drunk drivers can face increased jail time, permanent revocation of their driver’s licence, motor manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm charges.

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