§ Sir W. Bromley-Davenportasked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware that statements contained in recent reports by the Road Research Laboratory, to the effect that a proportion of persons involved in road accidents had been drinking before the accident occurred, have been interpreted as meaning that the accidents in question were due to such drinking: and to what extent it is still the policy of his Department that it is impossible to give a precise figure as to the percentage of road accidents in this country which are a direct result of excessive consumption of alcohol.
§ Mr. Tom FraserThe reports of the Road Research Laboratory have been careful to point out that the mere fact that a driver involved in an accident had been drinking does not mean that the accident was caused by drink (i.e.: that it would not have happened if he had been sober). In order to establish the proportion of road accidents due to drink, it is necessary to know the concentrations of alcohol in the blood of drivers involved in accidents and to compare these figures with those for a control sample of drivers not involved in accidents. So far it has not been possible to do this in this country. Calculations based on studies of this kind abroad suggest that at least 6 per cent. of all road accidents are due to the consumption of alcohol by a driver or rider and that the proportion is considerably higher in the case of fatal and serious accidents alone.