As my home overlooks a busy public house, my neighbours and I are constantly disrupted by ruthless drunks in the late hours of the night. My wife and I have woken up to see our fence broken and our car vandalised by thoughtless alcohol consumers. Is West Yorkshire still the safe place it used to be? Of course not. So long as these binge drinkers are on the streets, West Yorkshire will still break records on the amount of alcohol related deaths! I would like to remind you of the tragic accident Jonathan Smith suffered in Leeds not so long ago.
A mere 16 days after his 18-month drink-driving ban came to an end, the 23 year old was ‘back behind the wheel’ again after having drunk four pints of strong lager. After overtaking a fire engine on Park Road, he lost control of his car and demolished part of a three-foot high wall surrounding the car park of a local pub. His 22 year old, pregnant girlfriend and his 17 year old brother (who were both in the car with him at the time) both died instantly while Jonathan himself suffered near-fatal injuries.
These young men and women may enjoy themselves by going to the pub every Friday night, but is it really worth the risk of innocent victims losing their lives when the drunkards drive their cars recklessly? We, as concerned local residents, must rise up against this life-threatening behaviour and fight against the clear injustice.
Not only will we save the lives of the innocent public, we can improve the health of the binge drinkers themselves. The amount of time used to consume alcohol, will be significantly lessened with earlier closing times, therefore reducing the number of binge drinkers. Furthermore, we feel that this will help in the drinkers own personal ties and relationships.
I hope that you will support my campaign and look forward to future correspondence.
Yours Sincerely,
Professor Alan Smith, BRE, BMus (Hons), MMus, PhD
Chief Executive for the ‘Society Against Binge Drinking’
