A Delhi court has suggested that an accident victim should also undergo medical check-up to verify if he was driving the vehicle in an inebriated state.
"There is a need that even if a person lodges a complaint that he has been hit and injured by another vehicle and if it is found that he himself has consumed alcohol, even he should be put through a test to find out whether he himself was fit to drive his vehicle," Swarana K Sharma, presiding judge of Motor Accident Claim Tribunal, said.
The court said if a person driving his vehicle in a drunken state hits, injures or kills someone or gets injured, he ultimately remains a threat on the road. Tests relating to content of alcohol in blood help to ascertain whether the victim himself is guilty of contributory negligence, the court added. The court came down heavily on the police for failing to conduct alcohol test on two victims in an accident claim case.
"Drunk drivers have made the roads of Delhi killer roads. When the petitioners (in a case) smell alcohol in the breath, neither their blood samples are taken nor any action taken against them to ascertain whether they are under the influence of liquor," the judge said.
The court awarded compensation to motorcycle-riding victims who were injured after being hit by a commercial vehicle, rejecting the charge of contributory negligence as the police failed to conduct proper tests on them.After going through the medical report of the accident victims, the court noted that the doctor concerned had mentioned that they were smelling of alcohol.
But the Investigating Officer did not take the blood sample nor got conducted any tests on them to ascertain the level of alcohol, it said.
"While investigating cases of accidents, care should be taken by the police that if injured has consumed alcohol or smells of alcohol, a test is conducted to ascertain as to whether he himself was guilty of contributory negligence for the injuries sustained by him being under influence of liquor as even he could have caused death or injury to somebody," the court said.
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