§ Mr. ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make available the established international protocal for the conduct of roadside surveys of drinking and driving.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe recommended research methodology for such surveys is set out in an annex to the OECD report "Road Research: New Research on the Role of Alcohol and Drugs in Road Accidents" published in 1978. I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. LordTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department is undertaking in support of his efforts to reduce drinking and driving.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe Transport and Road Research Laboratory will be publishing tomorrow the results of a study of the personal characteristics, driving experience and drinking habits of drivers or riders who had been involved in road accidents. The study has been able to quantify for the first time the frequency with which particular characteristics and initiatives occur and the extent to which these vary with the level of drinking prior to the accident.
To complement this work the laboratory will now be carrying out a programme of roadside surveys of drinking and driving in Warwickshire and Sussex. The surveys will provide valuable information about attitudes to drinking and driving of a random selection of people from the general driving population. Participation in the surveys will be voluntary. By enlarging the sample in this way we shall obtain a fuller picture of the problem and be able to target efforts to put an end to the drinking and driving menace more effectively.