As thoughts turn to Christmas and New Year celebrations, it is appropriate for me to make some comments about excess drinking. I read with interest the article in the Inverness Courier by Nicky Marr in which she set out the effect of drink upon her ability to drive. The amount she had taken in a controlled off road experiment did not put her over the legal limit for drink driving but yet she was no longer in proper control of the vehicle. This mirrors an experiment by Ford Motor Company at the time of the Mexico Olympics. All those years ago, they put a range of drivers through a course in the then new Escort Mexico. The drivers had to answer questions while driving to mimic normal driving where we talk to our passengers or listen to the radio. Each was then given differing amounts of tasteless alcohol in orange juice so that none of them knew how much they had to drink and asked to drive the course again. Each and every one of them from the young to the experienced driver, male and female were significantly affected, became more aggressive and less accurate in their driving and became overconfident and misjudged distance and speed. Alcohol can reduce reaction time by 10 to 30 per cent and night vision by 25 per cent. Yet when their blood samples were analysed, all of them were below the legal limit!

It came as no surprise to me that an independent and very high powered committee appointed in the 70s by the then government to consider our drink drive legislation recommended a reduction in the limit from 80 mgs to 50 mgs. That has not happened even yet.

As a Fiscal, I saw all too often the tragic results of drink driving. One in five road deaths in the UK are alcohol related. Would you like the job of trying to explain to a grieving family why their child had been killed because someone was selfish enough to take a vehicle weighing up to a ton on the road knowing that he had been drinking beforehand? I never found an easy way of answering their questions.

Drink driving is a deliberate crime. The driver knows he has taken drink, which may affect his ability to drive safely and yet still decides to drive.

And it still continues to happen. Once again drink driving is on the increase with a noticeable increase in young drunk drivers. In young drivers, the risk of having an accident markedly increases after only one drink. That risk doubles after two drinks and is ten times worse after five.

One common way people find themselves caught by drink driving is the “night before” effect. This is when someone has had a few drinks, and I do mean a few, the night before and are still over the limit when they set out to work next morning. After only four drinks during an evening, most motorists who set off to work the next morning will still be over the limit. I have already said that these drivers have lost their edge and are unsafe even if they are below the limit. It can take up to 12 hours to be below the limit after a bottle of wine or five pints of beer.

Another problem linked to excess drinking is fire. Many domestic fires are caused by someone who is drunk and too many end in death. Again as a Fiscal, I used to have to attend fatal fires. It is a dreadful memory that never fades.

Please enjoy your Christmas and New Year. Have a drink with your family and friends. But please, oh please, do not drink to excess. It could put your life, or your loved ones lives, at real risk. Do not drink and drive and be careful about fire.