RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Experts in traffic safety warn of the risks of a federal government ordinance that once again allows the sale of alcoholic beverages at truck drivers’ resting points.
Drinking and driving are one of the most common causes of accidents on federal highways. From January to October 2019, drunk driving caused nearly 4,500 accidents; 265 people died; 1,187 were seriously injured.
Trucker Sebastião Matias da Silva drives all over Brazil and says he is concerned about the number of accidents. He believes there is only one solution.
“It’s not selling anything. If the law is dry, then it’s for everyone, for both small and big,” he said.
But that is not what is happening. The sale of alcoholic beverages is common on the roadside.
A 2015 ordinance provided that the establishment seeking official certification as a stop and rest point needed to register with the government, and should meet a number of requirements. Among them, not to sell or allow the consumption of alcoholic beverages in the establishment.
The list has never been updated and the Ministry of Infrastructure cannot specify how many points there are today in Brazil.
But now the lack of inspection is not what will allow this practice to persist. It is the federal government itself that has just passed an ordinance allowing truck drivers’ resting points to supply alcoholic beverages when they are within an urban perimeter.
The ordinance is issued by the Ministry of Economy and is currently in force. It overturned the previous ordinance that banned the trade and consumption of alcoholic beverages at resting points on the roadside.
Under the new ordinance, the decision as to where alcoholic beverages may or may not be sold in the urban stretches of federal roads is now the responsibility of municipalities and the Federal District.
In the case of highways outside the cities, the Dry Law, which bans the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, continues to apply.
The government denied that it is “allowing the sale of alcohol to truckers and bus drivers”. But for Adriana Modesto, a road safety expert, there is a loophole in the law.
“In order to prevent an accident, a ground transport accident, you create a number of obstacles. Any breach in these obstacles favors an accident. If the loophole resides in the ease of access to alcohol, then you are creating conditions for accidents to occur in theory,” she said.
Source: G1