In the mid 1980s I attended a speech given by Peter Bottomley MP at a well-refreshed industry gala dinner. He was at the time minister for roads and traffic in Mrs Thatcher’s Conservative government and was one of those MPs who spoke their minds without fear or favour (think Cornwall liberal MP David Penhaligon or Labour leader John Smith).
‘Anyone of our age who says they haven’t drunk and driven, is a liar,’ said Bottomley, and as the room fell silent, my guest turned and whispered: ‘and most of the people here will be driving home tonight.’
This was just a few years after the introduction of the breathalyser in the UK and while arguments raged about the exact circumstances in which a police officer could stop a vehicle and conduct a breath test, the data was starting to flood in. Exact comparisons are difficult, not least because apportioning cause and blame is a tricky customer and the authorities have had several goes at it over the years. The Department for Transport (DfT), which used to get its contributory accident data from the Stats19 police form filled in wherever an injury accident occurred, has recently changed the source of its information to Road Safety Factors, but it’s a slow process and not all forces supply information in time for the publication of the stats.
