Alcohol and the driver.

Since 1950 the consumption of alcohol per head of population in Britain has almost doubled. On the basis of known correlations the number of heavy drinkers is likely to have quadrupled. Over the same period the number of licensed motor vehicles has also quadrupled. The association between alcohol and driving is therefore now far more likely to occur, and our road accident statistics confirm that alcohol-related accidents have been increasing. The association may occur in a wide variety of drivers, ranging from the occasional drinker, through those with ordinary patterns of social drinking, to the regular taker of large quantifies of alcohol and alcoholics. In this paper I am particularly concerned with the heavy drinker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]