DRASTIC PROPOSALS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 75, 30 March 1939, Page 10

DRASTIC PROPOSALS

WAR ON DRINKING DRIVERS

"MUST GET OFF THE ROADS"

The absolute determination of the Government that the drunken driver should be put off the roads and be kept off the roads was stated by the Minister of Transport (the Hon. R. Semple) at the opening of the meeting of the Road Safety Council today. A proposal was made by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. D. J. Cummings, that a law should be enacted making it an offence for a person in charge of a car to take liquor in any quantity and for any person to supply liquor to a driver.' The council did not consider itself competent to discuss such a far-reaching proposal at the moment and a committee was appointed to report to the next meeting. It was plain from the remarks of each thet there was complete agreement that far more drastic steps would have to be taken. "I don't care how far you go," said the Minister. "This disgraceful business must end.

Summing up the results of the efforts to reduce the road toll, Mr. Semple said that there had been an improvement, having regard to the 25,000 more cars on the roads this year than last and the increased milage run (as shown by an 8 per cent, increase in petrol consumption), but much more had still to be done. Prior to the Safety Week Campaign thers had been a record period of freedom from fatalities and the campaign had carried them through the holiday period with a reduction in the accident rate, but there had been a serious slipping since. "We had hoped," said Mr. Semple, "that the campaign would have had a lasting psychological effect, but we found that it had a direct effect, and that following the campaign there was a relaxation and the worst period of all, with 23 deaths in one month. That is conclusive proof that the tragedy has to be kept before the public all the time." The Safety Week campaign had cost about £2000, but it had saved seventeen lives. An endeavour would be made to have a substantially larger sum placed upon the coming estimates. DRUNKEN DRIVERS BUDLD THE TOLL. "We have more than sufficient evidence to prove that drink was responsible for a good number of these accidents," continued the Minister. "One in five fatalities was directly attributable to drink, and one in three of the night fatalities was due to drink." Some of the cases were so glaring that publicity could not be given to the real facts, so that the feelings of dependants and relatives might be a little spared, said Mr. Semple, but the time was coming when such facts, terrible and disgraceful though they were, would have to be disclosed. "I thought when I began to tackle this matter three years ago that we would get some response from men who take liquor while in charge of cars; that we could appeal to them to do the right thing, but they have been deaf to all reason. Now something drastic has to be done, and whatever this council recommends and however far it goes it will have the support of every decent person in New Zealand." The proposal he had made earlier that weekend imprisonment should be applied to drunken drivers had been investigated, but had been found impracticable, mainly because there were not lock-up facilities in a number of districts. PROPOSAL OF COMMISSIONER. The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Cummings, said that he did not favour a stiffening of penalties for drunken drivers; he thought they were already sufficiently stiff, though to send a man to gaol for ten days and to cancel his licence for two or three months was of no avail; the cancellation of licences for long periods would be the greatest deterrent. "We are tackling this from the wrong end," he said. "We wait till an offence has been committed; we should act before the driver becomes intoxicated." He moved that legislation should be drafted making it an offence for a person to take liquor in any quantity while in charge of a car and for any person, whether.a hotelkeeper or anyone else, to supply liquor to the person in charge. Mr. M. F. Luckie: .Where are you going to end? Mr. Cummings: I am not going to end anywhere: the legislation would make it an offence for a driver to take any liquor and for anyone to supply him with* any liquor.The Minister: That applies already in the case of aviators. Mr. Cummings admitted that there would be difficulties, as when an employer directed an employee who had taken liquor to drive a car, but the absolute prohibition of taking liquor while in charge could be administered. WOULD MEET BORDER LINE CASES. The Minister agreed that the drunken

driver menace had been tackled from the wrong end; he had done so whea he thought that he could appeal to his decency; he had found now that ha could not. A great deal of trouble >had been caused by borderline cases, where police and inspectors knew very well that a man was not fit to drive, but where a doctor refused to certify him as intoxicated. Mr. Cummings's proposal would meet those cases. The cancellation of licences would probably be the greatest deterrent, if over a sufficient period. A first offence might be met by cancellation for two or three years, and a sesond offence by cancellation for ten years. Mr. Luckie: Take it away for life. Mr. Semple: Yes, I would agree that a man who had one chance should lose his licence for life. Greater publicity, as by the publication of a list of prohibited drivers and penalties imposed would be effective, Mr. J. F. Cousins suggested. Mr. Cummings said that the period of cancellation would have to be'left to the Courts, for circumstances varied so greatly. Probably that was so, said Mr. Semple, and if the) Magistrates, who, with the police, had already co-operated splendidly, knew that the mind of the council was that licences should be cancelled for a minimum of two or three years and for a minimum of ten —or for life—for a second offence, they would act. The proposal made by Mr. Cummings was drastic, said Mr. C. J. Tal* bot, but the position was so serious that it was essential to go further and further in both education and.enforcement. Though agreeing that drastic steps had to be taken, Mr. Luckie said that the consequences of a law such as Mr. Cummings proposed were so far-reach-ing that members of the council could not vote upon it on the moment. He moved as an amendment that the Wellington members of the council should be appointed a special committee to report back to the full council. That course was supported by the. Commissioner of Transport, who said that it would be a serious mistake t» place upon the Statute Book a law which later might be found incapable of application. '" '■■'■' ;r :< The appointment of the committee was agreed to. . , GET OFF AND KEEP OFF. "I want to tell this committee and this council that something has to ba done," said Mr. Semple. "To say that it would impose a hardship to prevent a man in a car from taking liquor is nonsense. Liquor is not a necessity. I am not a prohibitionist, -but very little can be said in favour of liquor, and not a word can be said in favour of liquor for the man who is driving a car While I say that drastic step 3 must be taken I agree that the law must be such that it can be administered with dignity and effect. However it is to be done, the drunken driver has to get off and keep off. If a -man goes down a street with a gun and shoots somebody he is sent to gaol and his gun is taken from him. If a man takes drink and kills some innocent person with his car he should have no opportunity to repeat that crime. "The Commissioner of Transport and I myself know what cancellation means to these people, for though we have scores of appeals, written and personal, against cancellation we never have one for remission of fines. These gentlemen pay fines willingly, but cancellation hurts. As far as I am concerned no appeal for relaxation o£ cancellation orders will be listened to for one moment."

Mr Cummings said that he had*been pleased with the reception his proposal had received. He was not a prohibitionist and never had been one; he would agree that a whisky might benefit a driver, after a journey, but the taking of liquor during a journey was completely without justification.