EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 51, 5 March 1929, Page 16

EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL

MOTORING FATALITY

DOCTOR'S OPINION

(By Telegraph.—Preas Association.)

HAMILTON, 4th March

Interesting medical opinions regarding intoxication in'.;relation to motor iiecidqnts was given to-day at ; thc trial pi. Patrick, Deegan, driver of a car which'crashed into, a train at the level crossing at Forest Lake, Hamilton, on Ist December. Alexander John Hamilton, a passenger in the car, was killed, and- Deegan was charged with causing his death'alternatively through intoxication or-negligent driving. According to the Crown's case, Deegan had had at least six or eight beers during the afternoon. The police and Dr. Waddell declared that Deegani was intoxicated.' Mrs. Scown, who was in the accused's car with her children, said ho showed no evidences of drink. Dr. A. G. Waddell, who was on the scene soon after the accident, said the evidence of Deegan Js intoxication were a rapid pulse (102 instead of a normal 70), unsteadiness, confusion, and repetition in his speech, besides a smell of liquor. : Mr. J. F. Strang, counsel for the dafence, cross-examined Dr. Waddell, with a view to showing Deegan's con .ition was due to excitement after accident. Mr. Strang: "You yourself have v groat prejudice against alcohol?" Dr. Waddell: "I am a teetotaller on . principle." ! Mr. Strang: "Do you think a man'is capable of driving a car after having i one or two beers'?" Dr. Waddell: "He is taking a risk." Mr. Strang: "But would you say he was incapable?" vDr. Waddell: "Some might be capable, others would not." '.'■■■ Mr. Justice Blair: "Supposing a man had two or three drinks, would his action, say, in applying the brake, be delayed in consequence?" Witness said the ingestion of alcohol undoubtedly caused the mental action to bq,delayed. "A man would act slower' in a crisis who had been drinking liquor. This had been proved time and again. • Dr. M. M. Hocking, superintendent of the Waikato Hospital, who was called regarding Hamilton's fatal injuries, said, in answer to Mr. Strang, that, taken by itself, a rapid bounding pulse would not indicate insobriety. It might, following an accident; indicate' excitement. It was feasible that the repetition of answers might be due to .a state of daze. A blow behind the ear might cause a man to bo dazed, and affect his balance. . . : . ' . :■ Mr. H. T. Gillies (Crown Prosecutor): "If you observed a combination of the symptoms mentioned by Mr. Strang, and also smellcd alcohol on a person, combined with a flushed face, what condition would you say produced those symptoms?" Witness replied that without seeing a person he did not know what he would say. , ' '..;■.- ' : : . The case was adjourned till to-mor-row. ■ '..•' ' ■ .