§ 29. Mr. J. Harveyasked the Minister of Transport if he will explain the circumstances under which road accidents are designated in the published statistics as being due to drink; and whether he is satisfied that the present system gives an accurate reflection of the number of accidents in which the consumption of alcohol may have been a contributory factor.
§ The Minister of Transport (Mr. Ernest Marples)The statistics reflect every instance of a driver or cyclist involved in a fatal or serious accident who has appeared to the police to be in such a condition as to have rendered him liable to be charged with a drink offence under the Road Traffic Acts. The offence may be cycling, or driving or being in charge of a motor vehicle, in either case while under the influence of drink to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle. I am sure that drink and other hidden factors contribute to many more accidents than the statistics show, or indeed than it would be practicable for any reporting or investigating system to reveal.
§ Mr. HarveyIs my right hon. Friend aware that a variety of arguments are being advanced by various interests on this subject at present and that the greater the clarification which can be given by his Department the better it will be for all concerned?
§ Mr. MarplesI quite agree. The size of my postbag shows the variety of causes to which people attribute accidents. In considering the effect of drink, I am sure that the best thing has been done by giving the information about the accidents over Christmas to the Road Research Laboratory and asking whether we can have a painstaking investigation and a scientific analysis. I think it wrong in this case to proceed by hunches.