ALCOHOL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 1 October 1927, Page 12

ALCOHOL

AND THE MOTORIST. MEDICAL MAN’S COMMENT. Dr. Bodfrey Carter dealt at the British Medical Association, London, with alcohol and the mutor'ist. He said: ‘ ‘ For a man to drive a (last running vehicle on a public highway under present crowded conditions while drunk is only a degree less culpable than a drunken man being in, charge of a railway engine. Disaster is sure to follow. ‘ ‘ Since it become part of my official duties to examine all persons arrested on the charge of being intoxicated while in charge of motor vehicles within the city boundaries of Sheffield I have been surprised at the number of cases brought to my notice. ‘ ‘ In framing the Act the use of the word ‘drunk’ was unfortunate.. There is no statutory definition of what constitutes being drunk and therefore all the legal-versus-medical wrangling hinges upon the interpretation placed on the abnormalities presented at the time of the arrest and subsequent examination. “Had the term ‘under the influence of alcohol’ been used, many difficulties would have been avoided. “Safe motoring depends upon a clear and alert mental outlook. Judgment must be poised, nerve cool nnd the brain in a position to assimilate rapidly immediate problems and nrive nt quick and accurate decisions. “This delicate nerve balance poised as it is on the highest brain centres, is the very first function to become disordered by alcohol.”