Government recently tabled a bill to mandate bar owners/operators not to sell alcohol to drunk persons or designated drivers while also increasing the fines for breaching the responsibilities of their respective licences.
The Intoxicating Liquor Licensing (Amendment) Bill, tabled at the August 8 sitting of the National Assembly, is a result of increased accidents on the roadways owing to drunk driving.
It is one step the government is taking to combat drunk driving, which along with speeding is responsible for the majority of accidents, including fatal ones.
According to the Bill’s explanatory memorandum, a drunken person is defined as “a person whose physical or mental conduct is substantially impaired as a result of the introduction of intoxicating liquor into the person’s body and who exhibits those plain and easily observed or discovered outward manifestations of behaviour commonly known to be produced by the overconsumption of intoxicating liquor.”
Clause 5 of the Bill seeks to amend section 54 of the Principal Act by substituting for subsection (1), a new subsection (1) which expands the obligations placed on a licence holder to not permit drunkenness on the licensed premises and creates new obligations for the licence holder to discourage drinking and driving.
“The new subsection provides that a licence holder shall not permit any drunkenness on his premises nor sell, give or barter or allow another person to sell, give or barter intoxicating liquor to a drunken person within the premises. Additionally, the licence holder is mandated to not sell, give or barter intoxicating liquor to a drunken person he knows is likely to leave the premises by driving a motor vehicle unless a designated driver is identified. Consequently, he shall not sell, give or barter intoxicating liquor to a person identified as a designated driver,” the explanatory memorandum states.
Additionally, the bill mandates the licence holder to immediately inform and request the assistance of the police whenever a drunken person is attempting to drive or is in charge of a vehicle. They are also required to conspicuously post signs and ensure that announcements are made on the premises to discourage drinking and driving.
In addition, section 54 is also amended in subsection (2) to increase the fines for breach of these obligations by the licence holder from $4,000 to $100,000 for a first offence and from $10,000 to $250,000 for a second offence.
The bill also provides that the licence holder shall not knowingly employ a person under the age of 18 years to sell or serve alcohol within their establishment. The penalty for breaching this amendment has been increased from $2,000 to $500,000 in the first instance and $1 million for subsequent breaches.
It also inserts a new section 52A into the Principal Act. According to the Bill, this new section requires licence holders to check the age of a person before they serve them any intoxicating liquor.
