Statistical risk

YOUR article (“Police hail reduction in drink-drive offences”, 21 June) quotes the justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, as stating that one in eight deaths on Scottish roads involved drivers who were over the legal limit.

Trotting out dodgy statistics can be risky, because alternative interpretations can be bent to disprove the intended conclusion.

In this case, it could be argued that drivers under the limit are seven times more dangerous than those over the legal limit.

DJ Hollingdale

Easter Park Drive

Edinburgh