THINK BEFORE YOU DRINK judging by CM's recent undercover operation
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at Truckworld, it seems Britain's truck drivers are, for the most part, squeaky-clean when it comes to sensible drinking the night before driving. It shouldn't come as any surprise that people whose livelihoods revolve around driving take the drink-driving law seriously. But it is still welcome news confirming the general trend for drink-driving among hauliers to be below the national average: recent Government statistics showed that only 0.4% of HGV drivers breathalysed after an accident tested positive, compared with 2.2% of car drivers. But as our operation has highlighted, there still remains a rogue element that needs further careful targeting. CM has recently outlined a number of measures to achieve just this in response to the Government's consultation document on ways to reduce drink-driving. Our suggestions include freedom for police to carry out random roadside testing without reasonable cause for suspicion and without the driver committing a traffic offence; and a Government-mounted education campaign on the true effects of alcohol. Perhaps most importantly we need sterner penalties: in particular, a dramatic extension of the waiting period for the return of a licence after a drink/drive ban for the first two offences and a life-time ban for anyone unwise enough to offend for a third time. It might sound harsh, but innocent drivers who have had a drink the night before can always use a self-test breathalyser -before beginning work to protect themselves. Intentional or unintentional drink-driving is simply not acceptable. The Government must now clamp down on the remaining hard core of deliberate and persistent offenders for the sake of the drivers themselves, their employers, their employers' clients and the innocent public.