It seems this season is an appropriate time to talk about alcohol related harm as alcohol related problems increase sharply during the Sinhala - Hindu New Year period.
This year alone Sri Lanka police nabbed 189 drunk drivers during New Year period.
Also it is known that one dies every 4.5 hours in road accidents according to a survey carried out in Sri Lanka and 11% are due to drunken driving.
Drunk drivers are a worldwide problem. In US alone almost 30 people die in alcohol related motor traffic accident, which is, one death every 48 minutes.
It is worthy to note that,
In Sri Lanka legal limit for Drink Driving is 80mg/100ml [5] & selling Alcohol products is prohibited to persons under 21 years of age[6]. This limit is still very high compared to the predicted effects of Blood Alcohol Concentration on driving.
On a lighter note, old law bars liquor sales to women & there are suggestions to change the policies & laws governing the drinking in Sri Lanka & the world.
This year alone Sri Lanka police nabbed 189 drunk drivers during New Year period.
Drunk drivers are a worldwide problem. In US alone almost 30 people die in alcohol related motor traffic accident, which is, one death every 48 minutes.
It is worthy to note that,
The consumption of alcohol, even in relatively small amounts, increases the risk of being involved in a crash for motorists and pedestrians. Not only does alcohol impair processes critical to safe road use, such as vision and reaction time, it is also associated with impaired judgement and so is often linked to other high-risk road use behaviours such as speeding or not using seat-belts.[4]There are adequate legal measures to curb the drink driving problems. A suspected driver can be subjected to a clinical examination by a government medical officer. Still these are enforced only when major disasters occur due to drink driving.
In Sri Lanka legal limit for Drink Driving is 80mg/100ml [5] & selling Alcohol products is prohibited to persons under 21 years of age[6]. This limit is still very high compared to the predicted effects of Blood Alcohol Concentration on driving.
On a lighter note, old law bars liquor sales to women & there are suggestions to change the policies & laws governing the drinking in Sri Lanka & the world.
- Sri Lanka police nab 189 drunk drivers during New Year 16 Apr, 2013
- One dies every 4.5 hours in road accidents - survey - 9 July, 2002
- Injury Prevention & Control: Motor Vehicle Safety CDC, October 2, 2012
- Drinking and Driving: a road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners. Geneva, Global Road Safety Partnership, 2007.
- Examination of a driver alleged to have consumed alcohol (view on-line) 27 Dec 2007
- The law & Tobacco control in Sri Lanka, Page 30, May 2012
- Effects of Blood Alcohol Concentration February 11, 2011
- National authority on tobacco and alcohol act, no. 27 of 2006 (view on-line) 29 August, 2006
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