Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-12-11-Speech-1-166"
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"en.20061211.16.1-166"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, firstly I wish to congratulate Mrs Sinnott on her excellent report, which deserves our full support. The subject matter of this draft legislative resolution is undoubtedly extremely important, as it concerns the premature deaths of more than 200 000 EU citizens annually and the injury of several million individuals in the 25 Member States. Some of these injuries are horrific, and many result in the permanent disfigurement or severe lifelong disability of thousands of people.
Two main aspects of the prevention of accidental injury are: the identification and assessment of risks factors, and the proper communication and implementation of safety measures. Mrs Sinnott correctly notes that, in addition to the gathering of information on injuries by way of establishing a surveillance system, the Council’s report needs to be enriched by placing more emphasis on the promotion of safety and raising risk-awareness among the general public. Of the numerous serious risk factors affecting human life, allow me to concentrate on just one: alcohol and road safety.
In this area, there is much to be done in terms of prevention. The use of alcohol by drivers is extremely dangerous, mainly because alcohol suppresses our higher-level brain function, resulting in impairment of sense perception, slowness of reflexes, disturbance of locomotor muscle coordination and poor understanding of danger. In this respect, alcohol has, through the years, been responsible for the deaths of millions of road users worldwide. Yet, either because of ignorance, or more likely as a result of very strong lobbying by the alcohol industry, we fail to comprehend fully that much more drastic action on drink-driving is necessary. Instead, we are led to believe that alcohol intake is safe below certain limits, i.e. 50 mg per 100 ml of blood in most EU countries.
This is totally wrong in my view. There is
safe limit for alcohol and driving. Any alcohol intake, however small, will affect brain activity to some extent. Whereas a driver with a blood alcohol level of 20, 30 or 40 mg/100 ml might be legally entitled to drive, he or she is at a much higher risk of being involved in an accident than someone without any alcohol in their blood at all.
Our state education systems, as well as our legal systems, give our drivers a false sense of security in allowing them to think that, as long as they do not drink excessively, they are safe on the roads. This is criminally wrong and we must correct this situation by helping to bring about a zero-alcohol-level approach for drivers. Only then can we hope to reduce significantly the number of alcohol-related road deaths. But – and unfortunately there is always a ‘but’ in politics – how many of us are willing and able to take on the task of fighting for no-alcohol intake legislation for drivers, and how many of us will survive politically if we come into direct conflict with the alcohol-related industries by supporting a zero-alcohol level for drivers?
In conclusion, if there is an important injury-prevention message for our people this Christmas, it is that alcohol is a killer on the roads, in large as well as small quantities, and that the only safe driving alcohol level is a zero level."@en1
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