THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL AND THE LAW

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23806, 12 May 1939, Page 3

THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL AND THE LAW

TO THE EDITOR Sir, —In view of the fact that the driver of the lorry in the recent case of the double fatality at Mosgiel admitted having had several drinks, does it not appear strange to the thinking man that on the charge of being intoxicated in control of a car and causing death he was acquitted? Let us read what the Road Code, issued in May. 1937 by the Transport Board, has to say “ Perhaps the first and most dangerous effect of even small quantities of alcohol is to impair the powers of judgment concentration and selfcriticism. with the result that the driver in a mood of self-confidence, takes risks that he would normally feel himself incapable of facing, and all the time his actual efficiency is well below normal. . The driver is naturally interested in how long the effects of alcohol may be expected to last. This depends upon the amount taken The body can eliminate only about loz of whisky in an hour; the rest remains in the blood. In general, the concentration of alcohol in the blood will be at its maximum about an hour after taking, but even a small quantity will still be exercising some effect upon the individual up to three hours after it is drunk.” Either science and the Road Code are wrong, or the law is wrong It is for those 359,336 persons who in October last voted against the continuance of this lifedestroying trade as at present carried on to rise up and demand that it be reformed or, better still, banished from our fair land.—l am. etc.. A. S. M.