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Sir: I am writing with reference to Aube- ron Waugh's articles of 9 and 16 January. These disgraceful pieces not only con- tained a vindictive personal attack on Mr Peter Bottomley, the Minister for Roads and Traffic, but also made lengthy refer- ences to his dedicated campaign against drink-driving which are both crass and damaging. Mr Waugh may believe 'that drink driv- ing is simply not a big enough problem in Britain to justify a major change in our social customs', and find it convenient to lampoon statistics on the subject. It is in fact the case that these very statistics he refers to as 'a farrago of untruths and contradictions' are widely substantiated; drink-driving is responsible for the deaths of three people every day and last year for over 1,000 deaths and 20,000 accidents. It Is greatly to the credit of Mr Bottomley that the Christmas drink-driving campaign he launched was successful in reducing the number of alcohol-related road accidents. Having said this, I would urge him to go further still and introduce legislation to provide for random breath testing. Only then will drinking and driving cease to be one of this country's most terrifying 'social customs'.
Mr Waugh is well-known as a con- troversialist. His arguments in these arti- cles, unsupported by any evidence or positive alternative, and his gratuitous refusal to acknowledge a serious social problem do neither him, nor The Spectator any credit at all.
Roland Boyes
House of Commons, London SW1
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