Alcohol’s Part In Road Toll
(New Zealand Press Association)
AUCKLAND, November 11.
Post-mortem examinations of 67 people killed in road accidents in New Zealand last year showed that 63 per cent of them had been drinking. The alcohol content of the blood of 45 per cent of them was over the borderline level laid down in the Road Safety Bill introduced recently in the House of Commons.
Dr. D. F. Nelson, of the D.5.1.R., said the tests were carried out in the Chemistry Division laboratory in Auckland.
Addressing a meeting o' the Auckland Road Safety Coun. cil, he said some of those examined bad an alcoholic content of over 200 milligrammes in their blood. “They must have drunk the equivalent of at least half a bottle of whisky.” Tranquilisers and sedatives were very widely used, he said, but it was not known how much they affected driving either on their own, in conjunction with other drugs, or with alcohol. Besides drink or drugs, carbon monoxide might impair a driver’s skill. The day might come when checking the exhausts of vehicles would be regarded as essential for warrants of fitness.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31215, 12 November 1966, Page 1
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189Alcohol’s Part In Road Toll Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31215, 12 November 1966, Page 1
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