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IF THE police's new ring-fencing strategy to curb drink driving with roadblocks fails to bring numbers down, those who drink and drive could face another obstacle.
This could come in the form of mandatory breathalyser tests to be conducted at nightspots before these patrons can leave.
This was hinted by by Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, in Parliament on Thursday during the Budget debate.
Touching on enforcement efforts, he said: 'If necessary, we will implement other measures such as mandating drinking outlets to provide breathalysers for self-testing.'
This comes two weeks after the police began its ring-fencing operations by setting up roadblocks on four streets around the Outram and Havelock areas.
The first blitz on Feb 17 netted 20 drink drivers out of the 117 tested.
The number of drink drivers caught last year rose by 7 per cent to 4,009 - the highest figure in 10 years.
MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Hri Kumar pointed out that pub and entertainment outlets are key stakeholders to counter drink driving. He also asked for harsher penalties to be implemented for those who flout the law.
Many nightspot giants currently offer taxi services to patrons who have had too much to drink.
Bigger nightspots such as Zouk and Ministry of Sound also offer breathalyers for patrons who voluntarily want to check their blood alcohol level before taking to the wheel.
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