South Africans Against Drunk Driving (www.sadd.org.za), is a registered NPO and PBO, working to promote road safety and offer support to families of victims of road crashes. We hope you enjoy reading our newsletter. Please contact us with any comments or queries.
SADD are assisting/have assisted about 12 families recently whose relatives have either been killed and/or severely injured in road crashes. Very often multiple people are killed/severely injured per crash which usually includes high speeds as well as high blood alcohol levels - ranging from 0.13g to 0.37g. What is frightening and highly evident is the very poor level of investigations done by the SAPS and Investigation Officers resulting in the accused getting off some or all of the charges, especially the DUI. Evidence that is very accurately recorded and a correctly done Chain of Custody is extremely important in getting convictions. If not, defense attorneys get the driver off on these technicalities (such as inaccurately captured data/missing data or other technicalities). This is not the same as proving the drivers’ innocence! Victims families have few rights and are often not listened to or engaged with to any extent even though, in many cases, they are able to assist in the investigations and in providing the correct facts. Victims have started to lay claims/open complaints against poor police work (i.e. SAPS) and other poor investigations. SADD support this and ask for more accountability from all involved in crash investigations and for more rights and emotional and financial support for victims. SADD are encouraging and assisting people to report SAPS not taking drink driving as the serious crime it is.See https://bit.ly/2BKlFrY
Court Cases DUI & Victims
2017: JHB/ Central: Ndiphiwe Oliphant, Lebogang Tsotetsi, Kenneth Xaba, Sandile Tshabalala, - 4 young graduate men from Soweto (aged 20-22) killed & 1 injured whilst changing a tyre in the Emergency Lane. Drivers BAC 0.30g. Court case ongoing.
2016: JHB/Roodepoort: Maleehah Malick, twins Kyle & Keanu da Silva and Liam Ganas - 4 young children aged 14-15 years killed by alleged intoxicated driver. Blood not taken as driver was injured. Court case ongoing.
2012: CT/Goodwood: Gary Anthony and 5 year-old Jaderic Langenhoven and granny Gertrude Meyer were killed. The driver disappeared, dockets were lost. Through constant pressure from the family the dockets and the driver were found again and the case was reopened in July 2018. Case ongoing.
2014: Ladysmith. Kalaivani Chetty. Educator/pedestrian walking on the pavement, hit and killed by a driver with BAC 0.21g. who fled the scene of the crash. Blood taken 2hrs. 5 mins later. Family had to fight to have case reopened. Found “Not guilty of DUI.” Case finalized 2018.
2015: Cape Town/Blue Downs. Nadia Bond. 8 year-old pedestrian killed by unlicensed driver with BAC 0.17g. Finalized August 2018.
2015: Boksburg: Ricky de Venny 24 yr. killed by driver with BAC 0.37g. Blood not admissible as apparently driver “didn’t give permission for blood to be drawn as he was unconscious.” Found “Not Guilty of DUI.” 2018
2016: PE: Jamie Baartzens 19 year old UPE student killed by unlicensed driver coming up freeway off-ramp the wrong way and with a BAC 0.14g. Blood vial expired the previous month. Found “Not Guilty of DUI” in July 2018.
2016: Durban: 2 cyclists Richard da Silva & Jared Dwyer killed when riding in Emergency Lane. Drivers BAC 0.24g. Blood taken 2.5 hrs. later. Found “Not Guilty of DUI.” Finalized July 2018
2016: CT/Table View: 19 year-old Aksel Otterbeck old killed and 4 pedestrians injured. They were hit when walking on pavement. Drivers Br.AC 0.95mg. Court case ongoing.
2017: JHB/Randburg: Caleb Reddy 21 year-old TUKS Economics &Theoretical Statistics graduate, killed plus the drivers’ passenger was also killed. Drivers BAC 0.19g. Court case ongoing.
2016: Franschoek: Anthony Webb. Motorcyclist killed by alleged intoxicated driver. SAPS would not take blood although requested by witnesses and paramedics. Found “Not Guilty of DUI” July 2018.
2016: Durban: Taariqa Archary and Varsha Maharaj - 2 young professional women in their 30’s. Both were severely injured (Paraplegia and Brain damage) by a driver with BAC 0.24g, who left scene and drove about 30km before he was apprehended by a policeman who had chased him from the crash scene. Found “Guilty of DUI” and only given a 3-year jail sentence. Driver appealed jail sentence as it was only tried at Magistrates Court Level, appeal was allowed, so he is not in prison. Family not allowed to appeal the appeal. Finalized July 2018.
2016: Nylstroom: Emil V D Walt 20 year old motorcyclist, and sisters Mokgadi (18) and Basetsane (15) Raboshakra who were walking on a pavement, were killed by driver. Apparently not enough blood was drawn by the Dr. at the Hospital making the BAC result “inconclusive”. Case finalized August.
Sign our Petition
Be Outraged!! Be pro-active! Be a concerned citizen and demand safer roads for all!
Please sign the Petition to President Cyril Ramaphosa: 16000+ annual road deaths in SA is unacceptable.
Department of Justice is increasingly giving some jail time to drink drivers and negligent drivers. Although SADD feels the jail times should be longer, and sentences served consecutively for multiple deaths/injuries we say: "Thank you Dept. of Justice!"
#AboutTimeJailTime
SADD is extremely pleased that two magistrates in Durban have recently spoken out about our unacceptable road carnage and especially drink driving.
In S vs Ramnarain, Durban Regional Court Magistrate Anand Maharaj is hoping to set a precedence by sentencing Omesh Ramnarain, who killed 2 cyclists through negligent driving, to 10 years imprisonment. "The number of people who lose their lives in road accidents in this country is unacceptably high… it's beyond comprehension. I believe this case is an opportunity to impose an exemplary sentence… to warn potential offenders that this is what could happen to them if they behave negligently" he stated.
S vs S. Bothma, a hit and run drink driver who caused brain injuries to a candidate attorney and left an electronic engineer quadriplegic, was given a 3-year jail sentence and a R10 000 fine. In Durban Magistrates Court, Magistrate Bhengu said “Statistics showed that South Africa had the highest drunk driving incident rates in the world. Our roads are the most dangerous in the world. It is my view that drunk driving cases are not being taken seriously. Drunk driving results in reckless and negligent driving which leads to multiple deaths. Yet these road crimes do not seem to be given the same harsh and deterrent sentences as other crimes.”
In addition, in S vs Venter in Nylstroom after a guilty plea, the driver was ordered to pay R120 000 to each of the 3 victims families.
SADD is extremely worried about the following issues in terms of post-crash investigations, court proceedings and rights of victims
1. Regarding Blood: In many of these cases blood has either:
Not been drawn even though the police had been asked to do so as there was overwhelming evidence of alcohol consumption and badly impaired driving
Blood was drawn after 2 hours. A Senior State Advocate said re the 2-hr limit:
"The presumption does not say that it is then presumed that the level was the same at the time of the incident, but rather that it is then presumed that it was not less than the legal limit. Perhaps I must just point out that unfortunately, many presiding officers and prosecutors are still under the impression that if the blood is drawn after 2 hours, there is no case.”It is very important for the State to call an alcohol toxicology expert to testify about the validity of blood after 2 hours and to confirm the maximum elimination rate of 0.015–0.02g per hour
Blood kit had expired
Insufficient blood was drawn
Blood is not taken because the driver is injured. (If the person has been charged and is accompanied by a SAPS officer and even if a drip is in place blood can be taken from that arm or preferably the opposite arm, as nothing in a drip will elevate BAC.)
2. Magistrates do not seem to not fully understand alcohol impairment and that sobriety tests like the Romberg can be passed at very high BAC’s by practiced/tolerant drinkers.
Perper et al., "Tolerance at High Blood Alcohol Concentrations” Journal of Forensic Sciences, JFSCA, Vol. 31, No. I, Jan. 1986, say
“Clinical experience contradicts the generally accepted dogma that "regardless of the degree of tolerance, blood alcohol levels above 400 mg. per 100 ml. produce stupor and/or coma ...”
“A number of additional cases have been published which relate incidents of individuals surviving blood alcohol concentrations varying from 0.65 to 1.5 g/dL Interestingly, a number of these individuals were conscious and able to converse; and some did not appear to be intoxicated.”
”As a matter of fact, Paredes and Hood make the paradoxical statement that "drunkenness is not a necessary sequel of intoxication". Put in more precise, though less colorful terms, the presence of high ethanol levels in the blood does not necessarily result in observable clinical manifestations of drunkenness.”
WIGMORE stated in May 2018: “The best, more reliable, valid and scientific method of determining impairment of driving ability with alcohol is the blood or breath alcohol test. It determines objective risks of collisions. The Romberg test is not reliable. It is affected by tolerance, medical conditions and other drugs. The gold standard of physical testing is the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test (HGN) and the SFST. I also call the breath and blood alcohol tests the lie detector as they really show how much the driver had to drink. “
In a research study by Wigmore he found "drivers underestimated the amount they had to drink (i.e. lied) 95% of the time."
3. Cases with severe injuries and single deaths are often not moved up to regional courts where harsher sentences and longer jail time can be given. Public Prosecutors, victims and their families need to insist on the upgrading of the Court so that higher fines and jail sentences can be given.
4. Magistrates mainly give fines of between R10,000 to R15,000 for culpable homicide cases caused by DUI, and seemingly do not understand fines can be up to R120,000 per victim as per National Road Traffic Act.
5. Magistrates have not always allowed forensic pathology services to testify and give their expert opinions about the slow elimination rates of alcohol (on average about 0.018 per hour) and to understand that if blood was drawn after 2hrs that the BAC would have been even higher.
6. Forensic pathology services are severely taxed with problems like being short staffed and, as happened in the Gauteng Southern area recently, a lack of printers and the ability to print autopsy reports which delayed court cases for many months.
7. Crash investigation officers seem inexperienced, or are overburdened with cases and so often do not collect comprehensive facts that stand up in court when challenged by very experienced defense advocates.
8. Accident reconstruction experts are either in short supply and/or not skilled enough.
9. Victim Impact Statements – Public Prosecutors and Magistrates often won’t allow victims to read them. These statements are very impactful and also very important to victims so that they can be heard, and speak directly to the driver. VIPs being read by the victims are also important so that the Magistrate /Judge can hear and feel the emotion and pain the victims suffer. Taariqa Archary who is an electronic engineer who is now paralysed read from her three-page victim impact in which she described how her life had changed.
“Each time I look at myself I die a little bit. I am 30 years old and my existence seems pointless.”With no use of her hands, she can do very little for herself and said her condition was a "life sentence": She could never have a family, nor work and further her career.
"Emotionally all I see is darkness. It is a daily struggle. There are times when I go to bed and hope I don't wake up in the morning.” "I can't turn over in bed by myself. I can't administer my own medication... I will never be able to wear that pretty dress or use those high heels.
"Why should I suffer because of his decision to drive drunk, while it has no impact on his life?... He is askingfor leniency because he is a first-time offender. Well I, as a first-time victim, am asking for retribution."
"DRUNK DRIVING IS NOT AN ACCIDENT: IT IS CHOICE!"
iBlow10 is a high speed breathalyzer screener for testing drivers at road blocks & workers entering industrial sites. It provides 12 tests p/minute without the use of mouth pieces.
Reintroduction of EBAT - evidential breath alcohol testing in SA
SADD are thrilled that they are legally being used in the Western Cape and ask for this to be rolled out throughout SA ASAP.
The evidential breathalyser Type Draeger 951ZA being used will assist to prevent many problems happening with blood being drawn. It will speed up court cases leading to (hopefully) driving licenses being withdrawn immediately (as mandated by the National Road Traffic Act - an excellent deterrent and preventative measure) or drink drivers being put into jail shortly after deaths and severe injuries have resulted from DUI.
They will apparently soon be rolled out in Pietermaritzburg-KZN and Gauteng.
The Western Cape also has 2 high-tech mobile alcohol testing vehicles.
To the media for highlighting DUI and the cost to the economy and families.Thank you to everyone who supports SADD in whatever way, whether through donating or joining the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet programme or by supporting "Litres for Education" in KZN (Code 328) when you fill up with petrol.
WIGMORE stated in May 2018: “The best, more reliable, valid and scientific method of determining impairment of driving ability with alcohol is the blood or breath alcohol test. It determines objective risks of collisions. The Romberg test is not reliable. It is affected by tolerance, medical conditions and other drugs. The gold standard of physical testing is the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test (HGN) and the SFST. I also call the breath and blood alcohol tests the lie detector as they really show how much the driver had to drink. “
“Each time I look at myself I die a little bit. I am 30 years old and my existence seems pointless.” With no use of her hands, she can do very little for herself and said her condition was a "life sentence": She could never have a family, nor work and further her career.
