Madam, - The allegation that studies from the US "show that serious accidents are rarely attributed to moderate drinking" (made in your columns by John Griffin, November 2nd) is wrong. The evidence from Traffic Road Safety Facts 2005 (US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810616.PDF) shows clearly that driver involvement in road fatalities increases steadily above .01 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC), from one eighth of the current legal limit.
In 2005, 2147 drivers in the USA with BACs above 0.01 but under the legal limit were involved in fatal crashes.
The scientific evidence from the USA is overwhelming - "crash rates increase with any departure from zero BAC" (Moskowitz, H. "Epidemiology of Crashes at low BAC", 2001).
Every drink of alcohol impairs driving and increases risks. John Griffin's naïve exoneration of those having "a couple of pints after a game of golf, or a few glasses of wine over a leisurely meal" ignores both the evidence and the moral context.
They are the true culprits because they socially normalise dangerous, life-threatening behaviour which their offspring then emulate, with catastrophic consequences for hundreds of young lives.
- Yours, etc,
DAVID LYLE, Chief Executive, Lyle Bailie International Ltd, Bruce Street, Belfast.