Sir: Mr Vinson's indignation (13 October) over the drink-and-driving regulations
seems to betray some curious and revealing prejudices. For in- stance. 'Many must be killed through the slower reactions of the over-sixty-fives—then why not ban the elderly driver?' If Mr Vinson would study the accident statistics instead of guessing, he would find that elderly drivers have an excellent record, and that the most dangerous drivers are young men between nineteen and thirty. Should we perhaps withhold licences from the under- thirties?
The most dangerous qualities in a driver are not years but vanity, impatience and bad temper. Possibly all are accentuated by over-consumption of alcohol. I am no expert, but Mr Vinson's shared bottle of wine, taken with dinner, hardly seems to me to match up with the pints-of-beer, double- Scotches and whatnot required to make one fail the breathalyser test.
Cars are dangerous weapons, and 'freedom' in their use must always be subject to some control.
I should perhaps add that I write not as a pedal cyclist but as a mature, habitual car driver both in this country and abroad. And I often drink wine for dinner, and shall continue to do so.
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