Honiara : 26 February 2017
Letter to the Editor. Solomon Star and Island Sun Newspaper.
New statistics of traffic related offences revealed by the Inspector in charge of the Kumum Traffic Centre focus on the fact that the police arrested 180 drivers last year following the introduction of random breath testing procedures.
Inspector Surimalefo has said that to-date in 2017, a further 54 drivers were arrested after failing a RBT.
There are no statistics to show how these offending motorists have been dealt with by the courts, but clearly many drivers are abusing the road traffic laws and regulations and there must be a stop to such a disregard of the law.
I take the view that the decision of a drunk to drive betrays an attitude of ‘extreme indifference to the rights and lives of others’.
Moreover, any action that is done from an attitude of ‘extreme indifference to the rights and lives of others’ is morally wrong.
It can be argued that driving itself is a dangerous activity. Even when a driver is not intoxicated, he presents a threat to others.
Drivers that are found guilty of drinking and driving need to be effectively dealt with by the courts and steps taken, if permitted within the law, given penalties to try and prevent a re-occurrence of offending in the same way.
The way in which punishment can be imposed by a court varies from country to country but generally sees an offender given a hefty fine, a term of imprisonment, and suspension or cancellation of his or her driving licence.
It will be for the Solomon Islands courts to decide how those found guilty of drinking and driving are to be dealt with, but from the disturbing statistics revealed by Inspector Surimalefo, I believe drivers who have been found to have breached both their legal and moral responsibilities as drivers must face the consequences of their selfish, irresponsible and willful actions because by their very conduct they have endangered the safety and welfare of the public.
