'My Car Knows the Way Home'

While talk about responsible drinking and the effects of alcohol in your body is usually Dr Frank Njenga's field, today I think it behoves us all to put in our two cents' worth, especially with the festive season approaching.

Last Friday's launch by the Kenya Police of the Alcoblow, was quite a landmark in the policing of drink driving in this country. It was also an event that had the effect of immediately striking fear into the hearts of all those who drink and drive. Rightly so I may add, as anyone who has seen the mayhem that can be caused by a drunk driver would agree.

Of course there are already those who are putting it about that there are only six breathalysers in Kenya and no spares and so the chance of getting caught is minimal.

In the UK where they use a similar device, more than half a million breath tests are carried out each year and on average 100,000 are found to be positive. Do you want to chance those odds?

For far too long people in this country have assumed that it was their right to drink as much as they liked and then get behind the wheel of their cars and drive on the road putting other road users at risk.

Many is the time the boast "my car knows the way home" has been heard and treated as a joke when said by a person who is narrating how they got home after a night on the tiles when they were so drunk they could barely walk.

Indeed, I must admit, I have thoughtlessly said similar things a fair few times myself only to think later in the clear cold light of a hung-over morning, "what was I thinking? Why did I not just take a cab home?"

Hopefully now there will be more talk of designated drivers (the fellow who remains booze free to make sure he drops the rest of the gang home in one piece) and more use of taxis from bars and clubs.

Life would be wonderful if such a situation were to come about, but I think I am enough of a cynic to know that such a nirvana could never come to pass. The best we can hope for is that enough people take the advice and eventually, our roads become safer, especially at night and on holidays and weekends in particular.

Statistics in Britain have it that people who drive at twice the current legal alcohol level are at least 50 times more likely to be involved in a fatal car crash. Scary stuff eh?

That said, we must examine the other side of the coin.

What are the rules about safe or legal limits of alcohol use in Kenya? Is there a legal alcohol limit?

As far as I can detect, and even the Police Commissioner Maj-Gen Hussein Ali could only say "the law forbids drunk driving".

Does the law tell you how much is considered enough? Does the law in Kenya tell you how much is more than enough?

No! However, this is too lame and irresponsible an excuse for everyone to go about drinking and driving with abandon, just because our lawmakers have been too lax (or maybe they just don't care) to come up with laws on the legal limits of alcohol allowed.

We can take the lead from other countries and adopt their standards, at least until we can come up with our own.

For instance, the legal limit in the UK is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

In the US, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have laws defining it as a crime to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above a proscribed level, usually 0.08 per cent, basically the same as the UK.

Now, if like me mathematics is not your forte and these figures, are just that, simply figures, let me put it another way. Even better, let South Africa's National Road Safety Council, explain.

One metric tot is 8.4 grams of ethyl alcohol. The average beer contains between 13 and 16 grams of ethyl alcohol. One beer is therefore equivalent of a double tot of whiskey, vodka or brandy, for example.

In South Africa, the legal limit which is 0.05grams per hundred millilitres. This is reached after two beers.

As far as wine is concerned: It would depend on whether you are referring to fortified wine or not. (Fortified implying that alcohol had been added to the wine)

Usually on any bottle the percentage of alcohol is indicated. Ten percent would imply 10 grams/alcohol per 100 ml of wine.

Of course there is no fail-safe guide as to how much you can drink and stay under the limit.

It can depend on many factors such as the amount and type of alcoholic drink, your weight, sex, age, food intake and metabolism.

By the way, it does not end when you are home and safely tucked up in bed.

For drivers, the morning after can still be a dangerous time behind the wheel.

Sure, you may feel ok, but physically you may still be unfit to drive or over the legal alcohol limit.

There are all the theories and old wives tales about having a shower or having a cup of coffee to "sober up". Sadly, according to medical researchers, that is all they are, theories and old wives tales. Purging alcohol from the body takes time and there is nothing you can do about it.

The Nation (Nairobi) ~ December 9, 2005