DRINKING AND DRIVING NOT ALWAYS DANGEROUS

DRINKING AND DRIVING NOT ALWAYS DANGEROUS

SEATTLE (Wireless Flash) -- The National Safety Council is predicting hundreds of drunk driving deaths this Fourth of July -- but one alcohol researcher says those statistics are all wet. Seattle-based alcohol expert Gene Ford claims the stats are bogus because they count incidents where the driver is sober but the passengers may have been intoxicated. Ford claims there's no danger in drinking moderately and driving -- as long as you have the proper alcohol tolerance level. He says countries that allow youngsters to drink before they're old enough to drive a car have fewer alcohol-related accidents -- mostly because kids built up a tolerance to booze and know when they're too drunk to drive. Ford also believes there would be fewer alcohol-related accidents if parents sat down with their kids and taught them to how to drink safely.