Officer in Charge of the Royal Bahamas Police Force Traffic Division, Chief Superintendent David Lockhart says breathalyzer examinations for persons suspected of driving under the influence will begin shortly.
Lockhart said, “very shortly we’ll start the implementation of the breathalyzers where we’ll be stopping persons, doing field sobriety testing to find out if they’re actually under the influence or impaired and should not be driving. The law was changed couple of years ago and it was assented too. We were just waiting for one or two things to be finalized.”
Police officers have been trained to use the breathalyzer instrument. According the Lockhart the breathalyzers have “recently been recalibrated to make sure that they are functioning one hundred percent and we have certificate of fitness for that to show that they are in proper working order.”
The Chief Superintendent further stated that the law governing the administration of breathalyzer testing “is written in a way, if you’re suspected of being driving under the influence of alcohol and you’re asked to submit to breath or blood and you refuse the court will accept that you were under the influence of alcohol at the time and that is why you refuse, so its mandatory.”
There have been thirty six (36) traffic fatalities year to date.
