ALCOHOL continues to take lives on the roads.
According to Arrive Alive, 50% of people killed on the roads have a significant amount of alcohol in their blood.
Head of MiWay Blink, Keletso Mpisane, encourages people to use e-hailing services if they had a night of boozing.
She emphasised that driving under the influence of any intoxicating substance, be it drugs or alcohol, is illegal. “Since insurers will not support an act that breaks the laws of the land, the insurance company cannot ignore the fact that the driver of an insured vehicle was drunk when driving,” she said.
She also said alcohol is regarded as harmful for driving because it can impair one’s attention span as well as reaction and decision-making while driving.
“Drinking increases the risk of causing an accident. This is why the government has introduced laws that set quite strict limits for drinking and driving,” said Mpisane.
She also revealed that the alcohol content limit for drivers is under 0,05 grams per 100 millilitres and the legal breath alcohol concentration limit is 0,24g/1,000ml.
For now, according to the South African Police Service’s official site: “If you have more than 350ml of beer, OR if you have more than a single tot of brandy or other spirit, you may already be over the limit. Remember that these levels of alcohol will remain in your system for up to eight hours after consumption!”
She said insurers have grounds to refuse to pay accident claims if the driver’s blood alcohol level is over the legal limit.
“It’s a good idea to check exactly what your car insurance contract says about loss caused when the driver was drinking. Most contracts exclude claims when this has been the likely cause of the damage to the vehicle,” Mpisane said.
She further said that if a claim is rejected due to drunk driving, one has to replace or repair the car with their own funds, which can be a huge financial burden – and would be even worse if their car is still financed by a bank.
“So, the best way to avoid the risk of this happening is not to drink and drive,” Mpisane advised.
“If you want to have a late night jol with mates out on the town, it’s much safer to use an e-hailing service to find your way home safely or have a sober friend or companion do the driving instead.”
