Obsessed Drinking Behaviour

Road Safety Article

I love weddings. I loved mine most despite the low profile razzmatazz. Those who honoured me on that fateful day, will recall that I was on cloud 13 when I walked the aisle gracefully with my beautiful Ifeoma.

My pal, Kunle Hamilton, former Founding Editor, Glitterati at THISDAY Newspaper Group, but now doing God’s business at Shaddaiville, was solidly by me. Like every would be- couple, a wedding day provides one of the best memories to keep and treasure.

Today, weddings have taken a new dimension in terms of the dance choreography blended with latest afro music from naija with a touch of top-notch fashion. In the words of a Catholic Priest whose name I can’t remember now, most of the preparations for weddings outshine preparations for marriage, which in his words, is the real deal.

A wedding day is a day of plenty of fun. Red carpets rolled. African drums beating spiced with assorted drinks including alcoholic beverages. Yet it was on such a faithful day, that the funfare and excitement of a couple in a clime far away from Nigeria was drowned in tears, anguish and lamentation.  

Please allow me to share this sad tragedy of a newly wedded bride, Samantha Miller, “who was killed by a drunk driver who slammed into the newlywed’s golf cart on a South Carolina beach. Report says the 34-year-old who had just gotten married hours earlier died in the wreck which left three others in the golf cart injured, including the groom, who was hospitalised in critical condition.”

The report further said that the “groom’s mother created a GoFundMe page to pay for her daughter-in-law’s funeral and her son’s medical bills. The page included a photo of the newlyweds running under sparklers just before the crash, which caused the golf cart to roll over several times.”

The suspect, Jamie Lee Komoroski’s rental car based on data retrieved, indicated “she was driving at 65 mph (105 km/h), and only briefly hit the brakes before she struck the golf cart around 10 pm Friday on Folly Beach. Gilreath said the golf cart had lights and was legal to drive at night. The speed limit on the island near Charleston is 25 mph (40 km/h).The 25 years old Komoroski, was charged with reckless vehicular homicide and three counts of driving under the influence causing death. She faces up to 25 years in prison on each count.”

Like I did last week,I have deliberately brought this sad incident to cause a rethink on our appetite for driving under the influence, especially after the awoof at weddings or other social events. That is why I am still focusing on efforts in reducing under-aged-drinking and drunk driving which is pronounced during festivities.

With respect to reducing under-age drinking, there are concerns over the extent and harmful consequences of underage drinking as expressed by governments from all over the world, including the concern by the World Health Organization.

In most countries, there is a minimum age for purchase and or consumption of alcohol, yet drinking by those under the minimum age of 18 is a concern in many parts of the world and can lead to serious public health consequences. Under-age drinking is a societal challenge that is only possible to prevent through expanded cooperation among governments, enforcement agencies, clerics, retailers, parents, educators and others in the community.

The focus is therefore to encourage national governments to set ambitious but realistic and measurable targets to significantly reduce under-aged purchase and consumption of alcohol. In doing so, there should be commitments to actively seek enforcement of government regulations for under-age purchase and consumption in all countries especially where a minimum purchase and/or consumption age has been set.

In countries where no such limits exist, there is the need to encourage governments to introduce a minimum purchase age and to enforce it. In addition, there is the need to strengthen the work of other interested stakeholders, including NGOs and IGOs. Developing, promoting and disseminating educational materials and programmes designed to prevent and reduce under-age purchase and consumption among young people or those known to have strong influence over their behaviour is critical.

This strategy will include consulting experts on the development of best practice educational materials for use by parents, schools and community groups and in social media.

Recall that Pillar 4 of the UN Decade of Actions on Road Safety (2011-2020) emphasizes the need to improve road safety and behaviour of road users and reducing drink-driving. In the area of reducing drink-driving, there is the need for government, international agencies, civil society organizations and the private sector to use the plan as a guiding document for their activities.

We must acknowledge the preventable contribution that drink-driving makes to road traffic crashes and fatalities which has more impact among the youth as illustrated in the WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety 2009. The key point to note is that governments should enforce existing drink-driving laws and regulations while advocating the introduction of effective drink-driving laws, including a BAC limit for novice drivers backed by appropriate enforcement.

I am excited by these developments but saddened by our slow pace in putting the right legislation in place. As I write, I am not aware of any legislation restricting the purchase and consumption of alcohol by the under-aged in keeping with best practices. Even where they exist, there is hardly any concrete attempt at enforcement.

The exception is the Lagos State Traffic Regulations which takes special exception to driving under the influence but I doubt if it recognizes the need to restrict purchase and consumption of alcohol. I am however elated by the 2012 National Road Traffic Regulations which aptly prescribed the alcohol limit permitted to be 0.5grammes in 100 millilitres of alcohol or 80 milligrams in 100 millilitres of urine or best test.

The same regulations prescribe a fine of N5,000 or six months’ imprisonment or both against offenders. For me, the efforts of the Corps may not yield significant results if other states don’t emulate Lagos State by baring the sale of alcohol and intoxicants at motor parks.

I am again excited that the beer sectoral group has found in the FRSC a partner to address rising road traffic crashes and deaths. As businessmen they are in the industry to make profits and not preach morals as much as responsible drinking is a catch word in the industry.

But like I jokingly teased their representatives when he stopped over to firm another line of collaboration, the Corps demands more for preserving their clientele .In simple layman calculations, every crash and death robs the industry of a potential drinker while lives saved boost their profile margin.

I remember a recent program where I gave a safety talk. During the interactive session, I came under the hammer for FRSC’s failure to rid the park of all sorts of alcoholic beverages which makes it easier for drivers to shine and drive.