According to a research done by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research in 2012, about 23.3% of drivers in fatal accidents were tested positive for alcohol. Thus, it is safe to say that a drunk driver is 13 times more probable to cause an accident if compared to a sober driver. However, contrary to widespread belief, you will not instantaneously get into trouble with the police just because you have been drinking a smidge of that delightful wine and going behind the wheel on the road.
The laws of driving under the influence fluctuate between countries. The most significant difference is the acceptable limit of blood alcohol content (BAC) before a person is charged with a crime. (Malaysia – 0.08%, or 80mg 100ml alcohol in blood)
“According to BACtrack, conventional wisdom cites that you are fine if you down a “standard drink” per hour. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines a standard drink as “354ml of beer, or 148ml of wine. As a frame of reference, 1 pint is 473 milliliters”.”
In Malaysia, the amount of alcohol in you that is enough to get you into trouble is covered under section 45G of the Road Transport Act 1987.
However, the numbers can be deceptive as different people can reach 0.08% BAC because of different physique and metabolism. The easiest way to determine BAC is by using a breathalyzer. Bear in mind that breath tests are not the only way to test for BAC. They are the most common way to be used, entirely because breathalyzers are portable. In Malaysia, any police officer in uniform can conduct a breath test if they think it is suspicious. In this, we can always refer to section 45B of the Road Transport Act 1987, which provides the power to the police to conduct the breath tests during investigations.
Furthermore, section 43 of the Road Transport Act 1987 also clearly stated that “a person who drives ‘without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for another persons using the road’ is guilty of an offence”. Drunk driving is certainly punishable under this section, and if found guilty under this section, offenders can expect to pay a fine of up to RM 10,000 and a maximum period of imprisonment of 12 months.
Moreover, Section 44 of the Road Transport Act 1987 is the section which provides the situations that one can be liable for a drunk driving charge:
(1) Any person who, when driving a motor vehicle on a road or other public place—
(a) is under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drug, to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle; or
(b) has so much alcohol in his body that the proportion of it in his breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit, and causes the death of or injury to any person shall be guilty of an offence…
Under section 44 of the Act, if you operate a motor vehicle in any public place when you are drunk to the point where you cannot really take control of the vehicle or your BAC levels exceed the legal limits, it means you have committed an offence under the section. Besides, it can be said that the section is worded in such a way that you will be found guilty whether you are “visibly” drunk and driving, or you do not look drunk (but your BAC levels exceed the legal limits). Upon conviction under section 44, the offender has to pay a fine of not less than RM 8,000, up to a maximum of RM 20,000 and jail time of a minimum of 3 years.
Section 45 and 45A give the police officers certain powers of discretion and are more specifically targeted at people who in charge of a vehicle when they are intoxicated or have BAC levels that exceed the prescribed limit. If found guilty under section 45 and/or 45A, one may be a fine of up to RM 1,000 and imprisonment of up to 3 months on the first conviction. Subsequent offences will net the offender a fine between RM 2,000 and RM 6,000 and jail time of up to 12 months. You will only be held liable under these two sections only if you are piloting the vehicle.
According to the Ministry of Transport’s statistics, 521,466 accidents were recorded in 2016, up seven per cent from 489,606 in 2015. Also, total deaths caused by road accidents also increased seven per cent to 7,152 in 2016 from 6,706 in 2015, while the numbers in the first nine months of 2017 revealed 6,083 deaths on the road from 400,788 accidents.(Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2018/02/09/piam-to-help-reduce-accidents-by-20pc-in-2018/#hkCcMpMlXs5c0S3h.99)
Other than that, The General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) has set a stretched target to help reduce road accidents nationwide by 20% this year from 521,466 recorded in 2016 and by 50% from 2020 onwards in collaboration with enforcement agencies. (https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2018/02/09/piam-to-help-reduce-accidents-by-20pc-in-2018/#hkCcMpMlXs5c0S3h.99)
Further, it was reported on the news that the Transport Ministry may consider tightening the laws to deal with the issues of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The Malaysian authorities undoubtedly take driving under influence very seriously, and for good reason. It does not only endanger your life, it endangers other people’s lives.
