With road fatalities climbing each week, the senior cop who heads the constabulary’s Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch (PSTEB) is reminding Jamaicans about the dangers of driving after consuming alcohol.

“When one consumes alcohol, immediately it has an effect. For some people it may have a very big effect, for some it is small, but your judgement is impaired, your eyesight may be impaired,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Gary McKenzie said during a panel discussion at Red Stripe’s responsible alcohol consumption and road safety town hall held at its headquarters on Spanish Town Road on Wednesday.

This sobering advice is not to prevent people from drinking and enjoying themselves during the festive season.

“The fact is, we want you to do so responsibly and we really do not want any crash and fatalities as a result of that,” declared McKenzie.

At the time he spoke, the island has recorded 392 road deaths from 340 fatal crashes since the start of the year.

Since then, nine more people died in road crashes, bringing the total fatalities to 401 from 348 crashes up to Friday, November 11, 2022 when the Ministry of Transport’s Road Safety Unit issued its daily report.

Blood alcohol content over zero increases the risk of crashes and fatalities significantly. Reckless driving, including speeding and neglecting to use protective devices such as seatbelts and helmets also tends to increase with alcohol consumption.

McKenzie noted that the police can request that motorists do a breath test if they are involved in a crash or suspected to be under the influence of alcohol.

He told the Observer that the practice in Jamaica is to test for excessive alcohol, meaning people would be considered intoxicated if they have 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

He noted, however, that what is considered too much alcohol for one person may not be so for another.

“It is important to do the sobriety test because someone may not exceed 35, but is not in a position to drive. Some people, if they just spell r-u-m they might be drunk and there are some persons who can consume a number of cases,” he said.

“What is too much, based on research, is that…for example, that amount of alcohol can equate to about three or so beers, but what happens is that different persons excrete alcohol at different pace, because 95 per cent of alcohol is excreted through metabolism, so the rest of it is through urine, perspiration, and so on,” McKenzie further explained before accepting 50 breathalysers valued at more than $3 million which were donated to PSTEB by Desnoes and Geddes Foundation, the charitable arm of Red Stripe.

McKenzie welcomed the instruments which, he said, will improve the unit’s capacity to conduct more tests. He noted that 12,000 plus breathalyser tests have been done since the start of this year.

Red Stripe also announced that it has engaged in a partnership with three drive share companies for the festive season.

Under the agreement, Red Stripe, part of the Heineken Company, will offer one year of ride-share services through Voy, Travelr Taxi ,and Quick Rides

Red Stripe will promote the ride share companies as ‘get home responsibly’ partners on its social media platforms and traditional media channels.

The brewery will also offer give-aways to and from Red Stripe-sponsored events. The ride-share partners will, in turn, offer discounts and free rides and participate in Red Stripe give-aways on their platforms.