Madam, - Last week MEAS, an organisation set up and funded by the drinks industry, launched a new initiative on drink driving and managed to persuade the leaders of all political parties to be photographed with its chief executive in support of the initiative.
It is interesting that yet again the drinks industry has chosen to support the one initiative that has been shown to have the little or no success. According to all the international evidence, designated driver schemes are effective in getting drunk people not to drive but have no effect on the overall level of alcohol-related accidents. The research has shown that the most effective ways of reducing the level of drink driving and alcohol related accidents is to introduce frequent random breath tests and to lower the permitted alcohol levels.
The drinks industry is opposed to the lowering of the permitted blood alcohol level. Instead it dazzles us with PR initiatives while proposing an ineffective method of tackling the problem.
Organisations such as MEAS have been set up by the drinks industry in different countries to deflect criticism and generate positive publicity without actually doing anything to reduce the overall level of alcohol we consume. This is because it is not in their economic interests to eliminate negative drinking patterns.
If these organisations were successful in their apparent objectives they would substantially reduce the profits of their sponsors, the drinks industry. This is not something they want to achieve. What they want is simply to appear concerned about the harmful effects of alcohol.
MEAS should not be seen as a credible body proposing solutions to the problem of drinking and driving because it does not approach this issue from a public health or safety perspective. It should leave the matter to those who do - the appropriate Government agencies such as the National Safety Council. - Yours, etc.,
SINEAD SHANNON, Policy and Communications Officer, Alcohol Action Ireland, Dublin 24.