Drivers who are suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and refuse to allow a breathalyser test could be jailed, Transport Minister Colm Imbert said yesterday.
By Richard LordHe made the comment as he announced Cabinet's acceptance of new breathalyser legislation to be tabled in Parliament shortly.
Imbert told the post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall that the Bill would empower the police to arrest those drivers without a warrant.
"A person who fails or refuses to undergo a breath test would be guilty of an offence and would be subject to certain penalties which include fines and possibly even imprisonment," Imbert said.
Imbert said the need for such legislation came to the fore recently during crime talks between Government and the Opposition.
He said the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill was intended to address the use of the breathalyser in the country.
He said the Bill's purpose was to "empower police officers to demand samples of breath and in certain instances, samples of blood from persons thought to be driving under the influence of alcohol".
Imbert noted that the legislation would require a special majority vote to become law because it altered the Constitution.
He said Government was confident this would be obtained as it was the Opposition that initially proposed the need for the legislation.
"So we are reasonably confident that we will get the support that is required," he added.
Imbert said the Bill would create an offence "of driving or attempting to drive or being charge of a motor vehicle while the concentration of alcohol in the blood exceeds a prescribed limit".
He said anyone convicted of that offence would result in "disqualification for holding or obtaining a driving permit".
Under the proposed legislation, police-in uniform or not-would be empowered "to submit a person for a breath test.
Imbert said the legislation also empowered the police to require persons involved in an accident to provide a specimen of breath for testing at the scene of the accident or at a police station.
