Britannia Radio

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LIBERTARIAN ALLIANCE
In Association with the Libertarian International

Release Date: Monday 7th December 2007
Release Time: Immediate

Contact Details:
Dr Sean Gabb, 07956 472 199, sean@libertarian.co.uk

For other contact and link details, see the foot of this message

"SCRAP ALL DRINK DRIVING LAWS", SAYS FREE MARKET AND CIVIL LIBERTIES THINK
TANK

The Libertarian Alliance, the radical free market and civil liberties
think tank and pressure group, today calls on the British Government to
repeal all laws against drinking and driving. Drivers should be free to
drink as much alcohol as they like before and while driving. The Police
should be allowed to intervene only if a driver appears from his actions
to be a danger to other road users, or if he causes an accident.

Dr Sean Gabb, Director of the Libertarian Alliance, comments:

"The current law on drinking and driving is a prior restraint law. It can
only be enforced by indiscriminate stops and searches. Most of the drivers
stopped are not driving erratically and do not test positive. This is a
breach of  the Common Law prohibition of searches and seizures, except by
judicial warrant and on evidence of some specific criminal behaviour.

"Moreover, every officer assigned to looking for drivers over the limit is
one officer fewer to catch real criminals. This is specially the case at
Christmas, which has lately become carnival a time for burglars and
muggers. There are fewer officers around to deter them, and fewer to go
looking for them after the event.

"Much of the propaganda against drinking and driving has nothing to do
with reducing injuries to life and property, and everything to do with
making it harder to enjoy a drink in good company.

"If we want to reduce the number of deaths on the roads, drinking and
driving should not in itself be a crime. It should be possible for a
person to drink a bottle of whisky, get into a car and drive away - and
the authorities should have no power to stop this.

"Punishment should only come if a driver is so erratic that he is plainly
dangerous - or if an accident is caused. But it should then in this latter
case be very severe punishment.

"In general, we believe in real punishments for real crimes. Unless a real
crime can be shown, we believe in telling the police to mind their own
business."

END OF COPY

Note(s) to Editors

Dr Sean Gabb is the Director of the Libertarian Alliance and edits its
journal Free Life. His book, Smoking, Class and the Legitimation of Power,
is available at Amazon. His other books are available from Hampden Press
at http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk.

His longer opinions on drinking and driving can be read here:
http://www.seangabb.co.uk/flcomm/flc015.htm

He can be contacted for further comment on 07956 472 199 or by email at
sean@libertarian.co.uk

Extended Contact Details:

The Libertarian Alliance is Britain's most radical free market and civil
liberties policy institute. It has published over 700 articles, pamphlets
and books in support of freedom and against statism in all its forms.
These are freely available at http://www.libertarian.co.uk

Our postal address is

The Libertarian Alliance
Suite 35
2 Lansdowne Row
Mayfair
London
W1J 6HL
Tel: 07956 472 199

Associated Organisations

The Libertarian International - http://www.libertarian.to - is a sister
organisation to the Libertarian Alliance. Its mission is to coordinate
various initiatives in the defence of individual liberty throughout the
world.

Sean Gabb's personal website - http://www.seangabb.co.uk - contains about
a million words of writings on themes interesting to libertarians and
conservatives.

Hampden Press - http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk.- the publishing house of
the Libertarian Alliance.

Liberalia - http://www.liberalia.com - maintained by by LA Executive
member Christian Michel, Liberalia publishes in-depth papers in French and
English on libertarianism and free enterprise. It is a prime source of
documentation on these issues for students and scholars.