§ Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Minister of Transport if he has yet received the Report of the Road Research Laboratory on the alcohol factor in road accidents at Christmas and the New Year 1964; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Tom Fraser, pursuant to his reply (OFFICIAL REPORT, 16th June, 1965; Vol. 714, c. 431) states as follows:
The Road Research Laboratory Report, which covers the period of last December and January, is being published today, and copies are available in the Vote Office. It shows that alcohol was a marked factor not only in Christmas and (especially) New Year fatal accidents but at weekends generally during these two months. There is some evidence that the advertising campaign last winter helped to bring home to people the dangers of drinking and driving, but the reduction in fatal accidents last Christmas cannot be attributed for certain to this or any other single factor.
Consideration of the Report reinforces the Government's view that there should be additional legislative provisions to deal with this serious problem. As soon as possible next session I intend to introduce a Road Safety Bill which will make it an offence to drive with more than a defined level of alcohol in the blood. All the work needed for this purpose is in hand as a matter of the highest priority but a new law cannot be in operation by Christmas.
Whatever law may be in force at any particular time, I am sure that public opinion now predominantly supports the view that alcohol is one of the definable factors in a toll of death and injury on the roads which our society simply cannot afford to accept. There are other 232W factors, too, and I shall not shrink from going ahead in tackling any of them where the Government has a major part to play.
In the end, most depends on what each one of us who uses the roads, on foot or as a driver, is ready and able to do to stop this tragic waste and misery. That, in human terms, is really the main lesson of the Road Research Report.