Drinking age questioned Dear Editor: William Piymat, Director of the American Council of Alcohol Problems, raised some thought provoking suggestions in his appeal that we should amend our cur- rent drinking laws. (*“tAge 21 Hike sought: in B.C.*": Wednesday, May 8). I wonder, however, how many of your readers like me are hesitant to embrace Taxis are luxuries Dear Editor: Regarding your report of Sunshine Cab‘s application for additional licenses, 1 would like your readers to consider an (ex) taxi driver’s view on the matter. I have had the misfortune to have partially earned my living by driving a taxi on the North Shore from 1972 to 1982, during which time | earned less than the mini- mum wage for the hours which I spent on the road. The main reason fc: this is that the North Shore municipalities do grant and always have granted too many taxi licenses. Rather than grant Sun- shine Cabs additional licenses, one third of both Sunshine Cabs’ and North Shore Taxis’ licenses should be revoked in order to bring the earnings of the drivers of both companies above the poverty level. After all, ALL taxis are luxuries, not necessities; we do have a public transportation system; and genuine emergency transportation is provided by the police departments and ambulance services, I, therefore, urge all the municipalities on the North Shore to reduce, not increase, their taxi fleets. J.C. Burton North Vancouver Nortu SHORES WHEELCHAIR ff EXPERTS. Wheelchairs 842 West 15th Street North Vancouver, B.C. Phone: 988-5566 (24 hrs} e e What has over 300,000 Canadian children gasping for breath? As Asthma. To find out more, call your Lung Association. THE LUNG ~ ASSOCIATION such a scemingly simple answer (at least, in part) to the acute drinking and driv- ing problem which plagues our society. There can be no question; as confirmed by Dr. Bill Mercer, that by raising the drinking age to 20 a signifi- cant nunther of auto acci- dents involving alcohol can be avoided. But then, we can improve further on that condition by raising the drinking age to 25, In fact, if we want truly to reduce the number of youth related, alcohol in- duced auto accident fatalities, why not raise the licensing age for drivers to 25 also? Information gathered by the Ministry of the Attorney General supports such con- tentions. It reveals that age is a much better predictor of accident) involvement than any other factor, Simply stated, the younger driver the more likely s/he is to be involved in any kind of ac- cident. Arguably therefore, rais- ing the driving age would reduce the over-representa- tion of 16, 17 and 18 year old) drivers in accident statistics, obtaining a greater saving of fives than even a raised drinking age would achieve. BCAA supports any con. structive move that will reduce highway deaths, and especially those through the irresponsible use of liquor, providing always they stand the test of practicality, social acceptance and constitu. tionality. However, if we do decide to urge our legislators to taise the drinking age, {| hope we will not consider our social obligations fulfill- ed through a ‘‘quick-fix’’ panacea. Moreover, [trust we will not be swayed by Mr. Plymits claim to success inthe U.S. The real motivation for several States to raise their (egal) age level for alcohol consumption was to protect Federal Government funding for highway maintenance; not any major conviction of INSDALE.A the accident prevention qual- ity of such legislative action, The true answer to. this problem of course, is a long term one; it may even in- clude raising the drinking age. But first, a major change in) social attitudes towards drinking and driving is required. It must not be tolerated. Motorists who do so deserve to be ostracized by family, friends and neighbours, The courts must deal more harshly with of- fenders. Education of our young people = with such programmes as BCAA's “Starting Early'’ muse become the rule rather than the exeeption in our schools... And finally, every motorist must play their part and assume their share of the responsibility to eradicate this blight. Safe highways are achiev- ed by drivers like you and [, young and old. John H. Ratel Vice-President Marketing & Public Affairs British Columbia Automobile Assn. THIS WEEK’S BEST oe California Green Seedless on the Cob NORTH VAN. STORE ONLY Prices in effect June 9-15 7 - Wednesday, June 12, 1985 - North Shore News draperies by S. 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