Breathalyser flops

- File

This demonstration of how the breathalyser machine works was given a few years ago during a Jamaica Automobile Association Road Safety Awareness programme.

Klao Bell, Saff Reporter

THE Breathalyser test system, introduced by the Government in 1995 to sniff out drunk drivers, is in shambles.

Fewer suspected drunk drivers are being stopped by the police and most of the machines used for testing are in need of repair.

"We have 35 instruments in all, 22 defective, 13 are working," explained Inspector Pauline Foster-Turner, co-ordinator for the Breathalyser programme. The defective Breathalysers are currently at the Jamaica Bureau of Standards awaiting repairs. "They don't have the parts for them," Insp. Foster-Turner added.

The Breathalysers, officially named Intoxilyser 5000, are used to test the levels of alcohol on the breath of motorists suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Norman Hall, information officer at the Jamaica Bureau of Standards (JBS), confirmed that "in recent times 42 Breathalysers have come in for repairs, 20 have been repaired and returned to the Ministry, 22 are here."

Mr. Hall was unable to say last week what the problems with the machines were. Insp. Foster-Turner said the machines started giving minor technical problems soon after they were purchased, but started needing major repairs last year.

Among the possible reasons for the failure of the breathalysers, The Sunday Gleaner understands, is heat. The computerised machines work properly only at lower temperatures, but some of the police stations do not have air conditioning.

Tom Myers, a representative from CMI Inc, in Kentucky, United States, manufacturers of the Intoxilyser 5000, said "the instruments will only work in air-conditioned environs, without ideal conditions the test reading won't be good. The machines will shut down if there are any problems so as not to give an incorrect reading."

Breathalysers were assigned to the Rockfort, Constant Spring and Hunts Bay police stations in Kingston and St. Andrew. Stations in nine rural parishes each has one machine, which the police claim are all working. St. Elizabeth and Trelawny do not have Breathalysers as there are no facilities to house them.

The machine at the Rockfort station was removed for repairs in February, but the last recorded test done on the machine was in April 2000, said an officer at the station. An officer at the Hunts Bay station said that station's Breath-alyser machine hasn't been working for "a long time now."

The system is set up so that each parish has two machines, while back-up systems are kept at the Traffic Division on Elletson Road, in Kingston. These machines are to be distributed to test areas when necessary, but even the back-ups are now dysfunctional.

Ben Clare, Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security and Justice has acknowledged that the Breathalyser test system, which falls under the Driving While Intoxicated Legisla-tion (DWI), has failed to achieve desired results.

"Regrettably, there have been shortcomings in the technical and functional administration of this system, which has not caused us to experience the benefits which have been witnessed by other countries which have enforced this legislation," Minister Clare said Wednesday while speaking at the launch of National Protective Helmets Day.

Meanwhile, the National Road Safety Council (NRSC) has claimed that the failure of the system has resulted in fewer charges being brought against drunk drivers. The NRSC also charges that the police are not as vigilant in administering the tests to motorists.

"There is a problem getting closure on some of the cases which are sometimes hindered by absence of trained persons to explain the technical factors," said Paula Fletcher, executive director of the NRSC. "Sometimes the machines read 'insufficient breath levels' when air is blown. This is a software problem that needs to be looked at."

Mrs. Fletcher said there has been a 76 per cent decrease in the number of persons stopped by the police since 1996.

"In 1996, 2,157 people were stopped, the Breathaly-ser was administered - 313 tested positive, 1,813 tested negative and 31 refused to blow," she explained. "In 2000, 514 people were stopped, 155 tested positive, 354 negative, five refused to blow."

NRSC says the reason for decline, "may be reluctance on the part of the police to take drivers to test centres which may be too far."

The police disagree.

"I wouldn't say there has been a decline in stoppages - I would say that motorists are adhering to drunken driving rule," said Insp. Foster-Turner. "The Breathalyser is effective. Since the start of this year, there have been 15 convictions, before the tests were available, there would be much less."

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