Memorandum from Mr Philip Hayton (DDD
20)
I write as a concerned individual, worried that
the proposed lowering of the alcohol threshold for prosecution
will have detrimental consequences that far outweigh the few as
yet un-quantified benefits.
I live in a pleasant rural community typical
of middle England where we all rely on the car to function. There
are no buses that go where we want to go when we want to go. To
lose the licence even for a year would mean no mortgage payments,
a doubling of the car insurance premium for the next five years,
in short, penury and homelessness. The only way I could be sure
of not falling foul of the reduced alcohol level is to avoid my
colleagues who live in the village and have the "swift half"
after work where we exchange village gossip, what's to look forward
to, dates, times, social interaction, a very important part of
village life, especially for those of us who live a few miles
from the pub.
There are no drunken drivers leaving our pub,
anybody who the landlord thinks has had "One over the eight"
gets a taxi whether they want it or not and the car can be collected
next day. If the taxi fare is a problem the rest of us pay as
it is not in our interest to have a friend hurt driving into a
ditch. The embarrassment caused when the locals claim back the
fare has a salutary effect and is seldom used more than once.
The pub along with the post office and school
are an essential part of village life and when one closes the
loss is felt by all, even those who don't use them, require the
reassurance of them being there "just in case".
It is difficult to see who benefits from a lower
alcohol limit as the ones who crash when over the limit do more
damage to themselves and their property than to others on the
whole. There are some very unfortunate examples of innocent people
being killed of injured by drivers over the limit but the existing
limit is stringent enough to catch and punish the impaired driver.
At the lower limit, drivers who will be over
the 50mg limit will appear normal and without any obvious outward
signs of inebriation, so the police will have to rely on "gut
instinct" or worse, breathalyse all motorists they stop for
the most minor offence.
The police are not liked in rural England for
a variety of reasons and this law, if it is ever enacted will
only make matters worse.
Before one considers lowering the alcohol limit
one must be sure the consequences don't outweigh the dubious advantages.
There is no technology presently or in the near
future that can reliably detect the wide range of substances both
natural and synthetic available to ingest or inhale. What about
the thousands of prescription medicines that, on their own or
taken in combination, can impair ones judgment on and off the
road. How could you possible set a safe level?
The police have sufficient powers available
now to stop anyone they consider incapable of driving safely,
adding a severely complicated piece of temperamental equipment
won't make it easier for them.
As we all know from past experience one can't
trust the figures for the supposed benefits of this alcohol reduction
or drug test. If it isn't bust don't fix it.
Please don't consign the village pub to oblivion,
we all love and cherish them.
August 2010
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