Drunk, driving and getting away with it

New Delhi: Almost 40 per cent of road accidents in India are a result of drunken driving.

While Delhi has issued over 2000 challans (fines) in the last four months alone, 10,000 Bangalore residents have been caught intoxicated behind the wheel. Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai have recorded about 5,000 cases each.

Ravi, 35, is a yoga instructor and a recovering alcoholic. One Holi he binged on bhang and spurious liquor. Then, he drove his bike. The bike hit a truck, seriously injuring Ravi and his friend who was riding pillion.

“I loved to ride my bike. Even after the accident I got up and insisted on driving myself. I was covered in blood. I felt I was a hero and I could do anything,” says Ravi.

Businessman Anil loves jazz and he loved marijuana and alcohol too. While driving back from a jazz festival in Delhi stoned drunk, Anil crashed his car into another vehicle. The accident left him bed ridden for a year.

“I had had a lot to drink and I could barely keep my eyes open. I was hit by a speeding vehicle and my car went skidding for 100 metres. Nobody could have survived that,” says Anil.

People arrested for drunken driving may not be all alcoholics but they are usually well off. “The poor don't have any mode of transport, so it's usually the rich who're involved,” says S N Srivastava, Joint Commissioner for Traffic in Delhi Police.

The punishment for drunken driving is Rs 950 and an offender out on bail even if he has fatally knocked down or crippled someone. The Parliament Standing Committee on Traffic recently proposed making drunken driving a criminal offence but this suggestion will act as a deterrent only when it is incorporated in the Motor Vehicle Act.

(Some names in this report changed to protect identities)

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