The Argentine Chamber of Deputies has approved and sent to the Senate a bill that reforms the Traffic Law with the aim of reducing from 0.5 to 0 milligrams the amount of alcohol per liter of blood tolerable for driving.
With 195 votes in favor, 19 against and four abstentions, Argentina is on the way to approve the ‘zero tolerance’ with alcohol at national level, which is already implemented in seven provinces and 12 localities of the country, where better results have been obtained in terms of traffic accidents, reported Télam.
The current Traffic Law establishes for any type of vehicle a tolerance of up to 0.5 grams of alcohol per liter of blood or 0.25 mg/l in exhaled air. For motorcycles this amount is reduced to 0.2 grams of alcohol per liter of blood, and for passenger transport of minors and cargo, zero alcohol.
«This law, which has to do with the accident rate resulting from consumption, comes to repair, at least a little, the great loss suffered by many families», said Jimena López, vice-president of the Transport Commission for the governing Frente de Todos (Front of All), during the parliamentary debate.
«The norm comes to put a limit to the speculation of a drink or two. Consumption has an impact and affects the faculties», she added, as reported by the aforementioned agency.
For the president of the Transport Commission, Jorge Rizzotti, of the Radical Civic Union, the modification of the law «is a strong step in a long road», since it tries to carry out a cultural change.
«It intends to fight against road violence and to configure a practice of conscience and citizen responsibility. In Andean terms, ‘good living’: the transit of life with respect for oneself, others and mother earth», added Rizzotti.
«Relatives and organizations exposed their tragic stories of preventable death as a result of drunk driving. There are too many families who have lost their loved ones to drunk drivers,» he remarked, as reported by Télam.
The bill, which has not obtained the support of deputies from wine-producing provinces, must now be submitted to the scrutiny of the Senate, which will present amendments for its final approval in the Argentine Lower House.
