ALCOHOL AND MOTORISTS

Hokitika Guardian, 4 August 1931, Page 2

ALCOHOL AND MOTORISTS

(Contributed b.v the Department of

Health

When one considers the immense volume of motor traffic in the streets ol our cities and even along the country roads it is app.".rent that to avoid accidents a clear brain and :i 'ruck eye are all important to the niotnri.iD. Fur when one meets an emergen,-, in driving a motor-ear, what takes place is briefly this. An image of tho obstacle is formed on the retina ol the eye and an impression is carried the brain where it is interpreted and a judgment of the situation is given through the nervous system. Next the use othe brake, clutch, and steering gear is necessary and must be accurate and in cor-ordination. If the use of these appliances is not correctly timed to the exact degree necessary an accident may happen. it is common knowledge that the misuse of alcohol exercises a detrimental influence on the human body, and that- through this misuse lives may be shortened and grave widespread evils may follow. It is probably less well known that the use of even small quantities of alcohol may, in some persons, have a disastrous effect by retardation of mental and physical reactions. Such retardation may prove disastrous in cases of emergency where the individual is called upon to tut with speed and promptness, Dr. Robert Hutchißon in Ids authoritative work '‘Food and the principles of Dietetics” states: "It is well known that the brain ee)ls seem to be pecuk inrly sensitive to the paralysing action of alcohol, so that the brain is the first to show the ’effect of an overdose, It is paralysed from above downwards, tho higher centres being affected first,

Now the highest centres are the controlling centres of the brain, hence loss of control, intellectual, emotional and muscular, is the earliest sign of alcoholic intoxication.” It, follows, there'ore, that the brain being very sensitive to the influence of alcohol, a person under such influence when driving a motor vehicle may, in a greater degree than otherwise, endanger his own life and that of others.

When it is realised that a car going 35 miles an hour will travel about fifty feet in a second, one sees how seriously the margin of safety is impaired when such a car is controlled by a person whose mental and nervous reactions are retarded. Tho increased need of the day is for people with steady nerves, and motorists should never forget that the nature of their responsibility requires that the brain should he clear so as to act with swift and sure determination in the presence of danger. When motoring a small amount of alcohol may spell disaster. The death rate i.n New Zealand from injury b.v motor vehicles has increased 127 per cent, since 1921. It is the duty ot every motorist to strive to prevent this increasing wastage of human life, find ul) it socially mid economically conveys. A means to this end undoubtedly is personal abstinence from alcohol while engaged in driving a car.