New law gives police more powers to test for drunk driving
The government has warned that drivers who refuse to take a blood alcohol test will be regarded as drunk drivers when a new directive of the Royal Thai Police takes effect soon.
The Thai Ku Fah Facebook page of the government said that the Cabinet on Tuesday had approved the draft directive of the Royal Thai Police, which would be enacted under the Land Traffic Act of 1979. It would empower police to proceed with legal charges against drunk drivers who refuse to take blood alcohol level tests.
The directive will take effect once it is published in the Royal Gazette.
According to the Facebook page, the new directive will make a few changes to the current rule.
For example, suspected drunk drivers who cannot take breath sample tests, must have their blood, urine or other body waste checked at a hospital. The “body waste” has been added to the current rule for doctors to determine the appropriate method for individual suspects.
The new directive will also empower traffic police to order blood alcohol concentration tests in all cases. The current rule does not empower police to check blood alcohol level of drivers who are unconscious.
In case drivers refuse to take tests without proper reasons, police must regard them as drunk drivers and take appropriate legal action.
The directive will regard motorists with alcohol level in blood higher than 50 milligrams of alcohol concentration per 100mg of blood to be drunk drivers. In case drivers are younger than 20 years old, the limit will be lowered to 20mg of alcohol concentration per 100mg of blood.
