Panday wants answers about breathalyzer testing

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday is pleased that breathalyzer testing will finally be introduced on the roads Trinidad and Tobago.

But he is calling on Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert to specify the ways in which drivers will be screened.

In a media release Monday he also asks the minister to give more details about what to expect when the law is being implemented and what are the rights of citizens for redress.

"As the season of merriment approaches, followed quickly into the “freeing up” of Carnival it is my hope that the strictest guidelines regarding officer training and instrument maintenance and calibration are implemented, as research indicates that breath tests can vary at least 15% from actual blood alcohol concentration," Panday noted.

“There should have been a public information campaign before such implementation. The Minister wasted the previous months and years and now runs the risk of violating people’s rights” Panday said.

“Has the minister taken into consideration that breath testers can be very sensitive to temperature? That breathing patterns can also significantly affect breath test results? What assurances do we have that officers will carry out the new breathalyzer act in a professional and dignified manner to the citizenry?” he asked.

Panday noted that between 400 and 500 police officers from "an already short staffed police service" will be involved in this process according to the Minister. He wants to know what contingencies have been put in place to deal with this.

"Having forced this country to wait so long before implementing this law, it is now clear that the Government is still unprepared," he said.

"One can drive for miles on the highway and not spot the presence of the police; murders are committed everyday in this country and investigators arrive on the scene hours later; people hardly ever wear their seat belts. How can we believe then that breathalyzer laws would not fade into oblivion?" Panday asked.