The Ministry of Health asked for quotations from a U.S. company for the purchase of thousands of Breathalyzers, an apparatus that measures the amount of alcohol in drivers. Dr. Nazaret Hasbun, deputy minister in charge of the Program for the Prevention of Deaths due to Traffic Accidents, said that the apparatus will be given to police for use on avenues and streets throughout the country. This would be the first time the nation would be enforcing serious controls against drunk driving. Dr. Hasbún said the program he directs, that will begin soon, alsoincludes the enforcement of speed limits on principal highways and an important emphasis on educating drivers. In 1997, there were 3,050 deaths in traffic accidents, which he said is an alarming number. On the early morning of Sunday, 15 February, the 24-year old son of the president of the Dominican Olympic Committee, was killed instantly, the victim of a drunken truck driver.
