DRINK AND DRIVING

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31783, 13 September 1968, Page 19

DRINK AND DRIVING

TT is necessary to proceed A with caution when considering drinking and driving, for the topic excites passion and a great deal of hazy thinking, says an article in the latest issue of “Better Roads,” the journal of the New Zealand Road Federation.

In the absence of reliable statistics, both advocates and opponents of severe restrictions are apt to resort to suspect rhetoric, the article says.

“One of the most common arguments against any legal limit is that tolerance to alcohol varies very widely among individuals. One man can quaff the alehouse dry and still walk an impeccably straight line, while the next man is liable to pass out with a whiff of the barmaid’s apron. “A second objection is the complexity of existing techniques for determining the level of alcohol in th' body, allied to the time factor, which might mean, for example, that a motorist could be 'under the influence’ while at the wheel, but as sober as a church mouse at the police station.

TANGLED “The amount of alcohol in the blood depends, not only on the amount drunk, but also on the weight of the drinker, the kind of alcohol, and

whether it was drunk with or without food. Clearly, the problem is a tangled one, offering happy hunting grounds for lawyers. “One cannot legislate, of course, on the basis of individual tolerances to alcohol. All are agreed that the undeniably drunken motorist is a menace to other road users and must not be allowed to drive in that condition. If one accepts that a specific, measurable basis for regulation, it must be recognised that any figure is bound to be somewhat arbitary and thus may apparently prove rather unfair on the heavy drinker with a prodigious capacity for alcohol,” the article says. U.K. LAWS

Britain recently enacted laws making it an offence for a person to drive, attempting to drive or be in charge of a motor vehicle “having consumed alcohol in such quantity that the proportion in the blood exceeds the prescribed limit,” That limit has been fixed at 80 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. Other countries have opted for higher or lower ratios.

“A uniformed policeman in Britain is empowered to require the driver to take an alcohol test only in suspi-

cious circumstances, unlike his Swedish compatriot who can, and does, taken random tests.

“Sweden, of course, is famous for the severity and its drink and driving laws, and visitors will note the care with which most motorists scrupulously avoid taking the wheel after drinking. “The crux of the problem is the relationship between drinking and road accidents. There is at present no general agreement about the importance of alcohol as a factor but there is growing evidence to show that even small quantities of alcohol adversely affect the performance of most drivers. 'Moreover, alcohol intensifies any driver’s tendency to overrate his ability. “Official statistics, in Britain at least, provide a suspect guide to the magnitude of the drunken driving problem, chiefly because of the difficulties of a conviction on these grounds. “For example, 2.1 per cent of all road deaths in 1954 were recorded as due, to some extent, to persons ‘being under the influence of drink or

drugs.’ In contrast, according to recent surveys in Britain and the United States, 50 per cent of drivers involved in accidents were found to have drunk some alcohol a short time before.

“Wherever serious efforts are made to crack down on the drinking driver, loud cries are heard in protest at the invasion of personal rights and the injustice of a man being convicted by the evidence of his own blood stream.”

RIGHT TO LIVE Against this, there are to be considered the right to live of innocent victims of an intoxicated motorist, the article says.

“A man’s rights are very precious and must be jealously guarded, but not at the expense of other people's rights. “It is not an offence in most human societies for a man to get drunk, if he wishes. Once he has decided to take alcohol, however, he owes it to his fellow citizens not to drive.”

They Are Back They are here again. The spring seems to bring them out every year, those sloppy drivers who weave casually along the city streets at 15 miles an hour, elbow out the window, eyes on the miniskirts and minds miles away. Their inattention causes trouble, but they never seem to learn. You find them on the open road, too, gazing at the spring lambs and the blossom, lost in a bucolic daze, oblivious to all others on the road—a menace to themselves and to those about them. Surely, spring is beautiful, but if you want to continue enjoying it, stop before you look. Quote of the Week “Those who advocate the banning of motor vehicles from cities are advocating a measure which would destroy the entire nature of the city throughout the world. Cities are the outgrowth of the market place. They are the result of man’s natural urge to meet and trade with his fellow-man.”—Dr H. A. Barnes, the commissioner of traffic, City of New York.