DRUNKEN MOTORISTS

Shannon News, 5 August 1927, Page 4

DRUNKEN MOTORISTS

"A drunken motorist is worse than a drunken man with a revolver," said Chief Justice Russell, of''Scotland, in a discussion that recently took place at a conference of the British Medical Association at Edinburgh. The speaker added that the revolver would go off only in one direction, but there was no knowing what a drunken motorist would do in a crowded street. Another speaker at the same conference said a drunken motorist was only one degree less culpable than a drunken enginedriver —disaster was sure to follow. There can be no doubt whatever that drunkenness among motor drivers is exceedingly dangerous, and is productive of a large percentage of the accidents that are increasing so alarmingly in every civilised country. New Zealand is, probably, one of the most sober countries of the world, and yet, if we are to judge by the number that have been proved to have resulted from excessive drinking —and these must be y only a small proportion of those actually caused —liquor is directly or indirectly responsible for a great many of the worst motor accidents that are continually occurring. The delicate nerve balance, which gives poise, judgment, and quickness of decision, is quick to become disordered as a result of alcohol, hence many a man does not need to be really in a state of drunkenness to be quite unfit to have control of a molor car. It seems almost impossible to fix the exact stage at which a man or woman is unfit to drive a car. We have to make allowances for the extraordinary diversity in the human make-up. We are told of an ingenious plan followed in some parts of America to ascertain if a person is actually drunk. When his breath is released into a chemical mixture it discloses the extent of his intoxication. It would seem, from certain eases that come before the Courts from time to time, that some such procedure would be very valuable in New Zealand, for it is extremely difficult to say at just what stage a person loses his "or her power of judgment or mental balance. Even experts have a diversity of opinion in this respect. One thingi is Certain, however—that any person who is palpably under fhe influence of liquor should never be allowed to drive a car, and any person convicted of this offence should be more severely dealt with than at present, if we are to check the growing danger to the public. The police and traffic inspectors are doing their utmost to cope with this, one of the most fruitful sources of serious accidents, and will doubtless have the staunchest support from the magistrates and local justices, in an effort to safeguard life and limb. It would appear necessary to impose heavier penalties than at present, and the most salutary deterrent will probably prove that of imprisonment in all proved cases, without the option of a fine.