Effectiveness of breath alcohol test on road accidents reduction: Case study of the City of Kigali

Abstract

The present study investigates effectiveness of breath alcohol test on road accidents reduction. This study is grounded on deterrence and routine activity theories. The former which maintains that deterrence is vital to advance road users‟ protection via growing individuals‟ perceived anticipated price and apprehension percentage of attractive in drunken behaviors. To achieve the research objective, mixed approach was used to gather data by using questionnaire and interview guide. The study used 64 respondents as a sample size drawn from the population of 176. Outcomes of the collected data have been examined relating to other works on effectiveness of breath alcohol test on road accidents reduction. Results of qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data gathered showed that the breath alcohol test are effective in reducing road accidents if they are frequently used, highly visible and highly publicized before being used. This leads detection of drunken drivers and finally punished them. Generally, findings revealed that breath alcohol test device can be an indispensable strategy in reducing alcohol related crashes as confirmed by respondents at 60.9%. Also, results showed that there is a gap in using breath alcohol test whereby they are not frequently used, not highly publicized before being used, no use of standardized field sobriety tests and no use of passive alcohol sensor while detecting drink and drive offenders. Also, challenges which hinder effectiveness of breath alcohol tests have been identified including inadequate resources, misperceptions about effectiveness of breath alcohol test, and lack of support. Moreover, strategies for improvement have also been revealed including training of police officers; seeking support from public and public education programs. Finally, some recommendations and scope for further research directions were proposed. The traffic and road safety department was recommended to improve effectiveness of breath alcohol test by publicizing them before being used, using them frequently, use of standardized field sobriety tests and use of passive alcohol sensors. Likewise, recommended further studies included investigating into the relationship between over speeding and road accidents.