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| A man takes a breathalyser test as part of the Lei Seca |
Anyone who has been in Brazil for more than 5 minutes knows that Brazilians love to find a way to get around a law or a regulation. Back home you might get looked down on for questionable morals but here finding a “jeitinho” is a matter of pride and admiration. São Paulo is no exception and despite being one of the toughest states in clamping down on drink driving, there have been many interesting attempts to get round it.
The obvious
one which recently became a more expensive tactic is not to avoid the speed
trap or “blitz” as they are known locally but to refuse to take the
breathalyzer. The police itself admits they cannot force somebody to
effectively testify against themselves and if they don’t have proof of
excessive alcohol consumption they are unable to impose prison sanctions. Instead
an administrative non-cooperation fine is applied. The toughening up of the Lei
Seca (literally the Dry Law) which governs and aims to eradicate drink driving
means this strategy is now more expensive and the fine reaches up to R$ 1915,30
(almost 1,000 dollars) rising to twice that if the offence is repeated.
The cheaper
and more famous work around is the Twitter account which tweets in real time
where a police blitz is. It’s actually a double work around as the account
itself doesn’t flag the speed traps, in fact it will claim that it is morally
against opposed to it but they will allow other users to tweet speedtrap
locations at them. Most major Brazilian cities now have Lei Seca Twitter
accounts, the São Paulo one has a self description which reads as “online
traffic information about accidents, floodings etc. Don’t drink and drive! Don’t
let selective morality beat you.” Quite amusing for a Twitter account with a
hashtag which reads LeiSecaSP .
The government last year tried to ban these accounts from Twitter but to no
avail.
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| Metadoxil, the supposed breathalyser-proof drug |
For those
too drunk even to tweet as they drive, a third tactic emerged over the last few
weeks. A seemingly simple solution began to appear on social media and soon
videos began to appear on youtube claiming that if you take a non-prescription
pill called metadoxil you would pass the breathalyzer test even if under the
effects of alcohol. Pharmacy sales of
Metadoxil boomed in the pre-carnival period and it is still hard to get hold of
in many pharmacies due to demand outstripping supply. Alas, it transpires that
it has no effect on alcohol levels in your body nor of your ability to avoid
being detected and has little more than placebo value. Placebos however, work
only on susceptible minds not on breathalyzers.
The search
for the perfect jeitinho continues..
