APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Traffic police officers resume carrying out an alcohol breathalyzer test to detect drunk drivers in the capital, Addis Ababa.
Traffic police officers in Ethiopia have resumed carrying out an alcohol breathalyzer test to detect drunk drivers in the capital, Addis Ababa.
The random breath test to detect drunk drivers has been paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020.
The traffic police officers have been using customary methods, requiring suspected drunk drivers to stand by one leg or walk on a line drawn on asphalt road.
The city’s traffic management Authority (TMA) said the sobriety test has been reinstated starting Tuesday to curb alcohol-impaired driving.
Drink driving is among the major risk factors for road traffic crashes which cause the death of at least 13 people in a day, nationally.
The current Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) drink driving limit is 0.8 grams per liter of blood or 0.4 milligrams per liter of breathing.
Its enforcement in Addis Ababa involving random roadside screening began in 2015 and helped the city to record positive results immediately.
According to a 2020 UNECA report, drunk driving reduced from 9.7 percent in 2015 to 1 percent in 2019.
Authorities, however, put a break on the alcohol breathalyzer test of drivers due to the pandemic.
Currently, the situation has returned to a point where the measures against driving beyond the legal limit can be reinstated, Ayalew Abdisa, Director of TMA’s Traffic administration said.
Prior to the pause, the operation was facing major challenges due to the failure of breathalyzers and calibration issues.
MG/abj/APA