The Malaysian Insight

CLUB and pub owners have not reacted positively to pressure from the government to subject their customers to a breathalyser test before they drive home at the end of the night.

The owners said they would rather help their inebriated patrons to get home safely by checking to see if they had a designated driver or by calling a taxi for them.

They said it was counter productive to force a breathalyser test on the patrons who were seeking to relax at the entertainment outlets after working all day.

Sabah Labuan Motion Picture Traders and Entertainment Association president Peter Chow said his establishment in Labuan had been providing free drive-home services for the customers for 10 years.

“The service does not add much extra costs to the operator – you only need to hire a driver – but this will put the customers at ease,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

It was not a bad idea to make the patrons take a breathalyser test before they left, but some patrons could take it badly and get offended.

“Some unruly customers will not accept it at all and it will cause more issues.”

Some outlet owners in Sabah had thought about the idea but had opted to provide drive-home services instead after considering the complications that could arise from forcing a breathalyser test on potentially drunk and belligerent customers, he said.

The drive-home services have been well received.

Chow said similar services were provided by in many parts of the world, especially in China, and he urged association members to follow suit.

“It is timely to adopt it here, especially now that the government is imposing harsher penalties for drink-driving.”

Should the government make the breathalyser test mandatory, however, the association members would comply, he said.

The idea was recently mooted by Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong in the Dewan Rakyat when he spoke about creating awareness against drink-driving. He said some entertainment outlet owners had begun to purchase the test kits.

Mohd Nizar Zakaria (Parit-BN) had asked if Malaysia would emulate Japan, where nightclubs require patrons to undergo the test before they leave.

In July, Wee tabled amendments to the Road Transport Act which raises penalties for driving under the influence and causing death. Jail time will be increased to between 10 and 15 years, and the fine raised to between RM50,000 and RM100,000 for the first offence.

Second and subsequent offences will be punished with a jail term of between 15 and 20 years and a fine between RM100,000 and RM150,000.

The amendments are likely to be passed in the current sitting.

Johor Entertainment Outlet Operators’ Association president Tan Yam Meng said the legal amendments, which include lowering the permitted blood-alcohol threshold will render the need for breathalyser tests redundant.

Even a single drink may be enough to violate the law, he said.

The government aims to lower the permissible levels to 22mcg (from 35mcg) of alcohol in per 100ml of breath, 50mg (from 80mg) in per 100ml of blood, and 67mg (from 107mg) of alcohol in per 100ml of urine.

The changes will meet World Health Organisation standards on permissible blood alcohol levels.

Tan said nightclubs in Johor Baru have begun offering drive-home services although many customers are reluctant to adapt.

“Some operators are collaborating with car rental companies, some have hired drivers for the service, but it’s not a common practice yet as customers are reluctant.

“We understand the customers’ concerns about being chauffered by strangers while they are drunk, and questions about personal safety are unavoidable.”

Tan said nightclubs are still not allowed to open as usual because of movement restrictions but that the issue of in-house breathalyser tests will be discussed once the sector is fully back in business.

In Ipoh, Hidden Space Bistro owner CL Tan said his establishment has partially reopened for business and that it has been offering drive-home services since August 1.

However, customers are not keen on it.

“Such services may be common in Kuala Lumpur as there’s too much congestion in the city and parking is hard to come by so everyone there is used to using e-hailing services.

“But in Ipoh it’s a different matter, many still do not accept this. The primary reason being they do not want a stranger to know where they live.”

In parliament, Wee said that since the beginning of the year, drink driving had caused 12 fatal accidents.

In the first five months of the year, 455 people were arrested for driving under the influence. – August 16, 2020.