Gopeesingh urges crackdown on drunk driving for Carnival

Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh wrote the acting police commissioner Monday urging James Philbert to consider expanding the use of the breathalyzer tests particularly during the Carnival season.

Gopeesingh said the latest fatality shows that in many cases drunk drivers can crash their vehicles and injure or kill themselves and other innocent travellers before they are tested by police.

He is recommending that in order to maximise the efficiency of the breathalyzer tests during the Carnival season police patrols should be posted outside venues of major fetes and Carnival events, especially the areas where cars are parked.

"Any person your officers deem to be drunk who sits behind the wheels at these events should then be tested BEFORE they have a chance to drive on the roads, and if they have violated the test, be prevented from driving," he said.

"Further, their names, driver permits and vehicle numbers should be taken so, in the event of any road accident that night, there would be a record of drivers who were not supposed to be behind the wheels," Gopeesingh added.

He said he strongly believes that this method of testing would be a strategic way of preempting any possible chance of drunk drivers crashing their vehicles on the roads and harming innocent travellers.

He said he hopes that Philbert would inform him of whether he is adopting the strategy because "I am representing the views of my constituents and citizens of the wider community, and therefore owe them a response."