Drink-Driving (Hansard, 14 July 1986)

§ 1. Mr. Dormand
asked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any further proposals to reduce the number of drink-driving offences; and if he will make a statement.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Peter Bottomley)
This year we have had the first-ever summer publicity focus. I am considering how to maintain the vital campaign against drunk driving. A quarter of all road deaths are drink related. About 5,200 people died on our roads last year.

§ Mr. Dormand
Does the Minister agree that drink-driving offences are a scourge of modern society, as is demonstrated by that horrible figure that he has just given? Reports show that the estimate that one quarter of road deaths are drink-related is a conservative one.

§ Mr. Peter Bottomley
indicated assent.

§ Mr. Dormand
I see that the Minister agrees with me. Does he also agree that there is no excuse for drunken driving and that a conviction ought to result in a gaol sentence? What is he considering doing about that?

§ Mr. Bottomley
I do not want to take up the hon. Gentleman's point about an automatic gaol sentence, because that is not in my hands today. What is in my hands is a booklet called "The Facts About Drinking And Driving", which is available to anyone who rings 0800234888. Anyone who reads the information in that booklet will suddenly realise that he has no need to join the 100,000 people who are convicted each year and that he should not be one of the larger number who put themselves and others at risk.
We must change attitudes. There is some wholly irresponsible public behaviour, and the interest that hon. Members in all parts of the House are showing may lead to the sort of action that the hon. Gentleman is seeking, but I can give no commitment on that.

§ Mr. Sackville
Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a growing problem of accidents involving not only drunk drivers but those who are either unqualified to drive or uninsured? Does he agree that people indulging in such criminally irresponsible behaviour should be more harshly dealt with, and that there should be a better system of compensation for their victims?

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. We should stick to the original question, which was about drunk driving.

§ Mr. Bottomley
Perhaps I may answer my hon. Friend briefly. Public reaction and involvement will make the greatest difference. Various things that we do on our roads are wholly unacceptable, including driving while unqualified, disqualified or drunk.

§ Mr. Nicholas Brown
Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the Transport Act 1981 does not specifically allow for drunk-driving convictions to be based on retrospective evidence and that the medical profession criticises such tests as unreliable? Will the hon. Gentleman amend the Act to prevent abuse and to confine such cases, if we must have them, to special circumstances?

§ Mr. Bottomley
Given the recent case, I had better not comment directly on that part of the hon. Gentleman's question. The point to remember is that people like us occasionally appear in court with the excuse that they went out for a social drink, even though they are convicted for having twice the legal limit of alcohol in their blood, which means that they have done a great deal of drinking. We must try to get away from our personal excuses for breaking the law and putting people at risk.

§ Mr. Peter Bruinvels
I congratulate my hon. Friend on his excellent campaign and I recognise that drunk-driving kills, but could my hon. Friend suggest ways of bringing in the breathalyser and random breath tests throughout the year? More than 1,600 people a year lose their lives in drink-related accidents, and something needs to be done. I know that the Government are committed to doing something.

§ Mr. Bottomley
Certainly something is being done, and it is worth remembering the summer publicity focus. Our campaign towards the end of the year appeared to be working, as the Home Office statistical bulletin showed. Police can administer breath tests when there has been a moving traffic offence, after an accident or when they suspect that a driver has been drinking. We cover all categories.

§ Mr. Stott
The hon. Gentleman may not be aware of the fact that my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull, East (Mr. Prescott) and I moved an amendment when the Transport Act 1981 was going through the House to apply what were termed the Blennerhassett provisions to give the police much more scope in evidential breath testing. Unfortunately, the amendment was not accepted by the Standing Committee, so we have the present system in operation.
The Minister and I are both concerned about road safety and about drinking and driving, but is he aware that his remarks about a recent case were a little precipitant? In view of what happened and what the hon. Gentleman said, it might be worth the House looking at the question again in a different light.

§ Mr. Bottomley
That may be so, but if the hon. Gentleman reads my remarks he will see that I avoided mentioning a particular case— [Interruption.] Despite laughter from the Opposition, I regard it as my job to bring down the number of casualties. The rate has dropped in the past 30 years, but the biggest remaining killer is drunk driving. I speak for the civil liberties of those at risk.