Peer pressure drives them

 

 

 

 

The Carter Road accident has prompted the police to crackdown on rash and drunken drivers.

 

The police had arrested at least 20 persons on Carter Road  for drunken, rash, negligent driving and other driving-related offences since Sunday night.

 

At least 45 drivers of cars, motorcycle and three wheelers were frisked by the police during the security checks and six of them were found to be driving under the influence of alcohol. They were later relased on bail.“We checked them with a breath-analyser. Those found under the influence of alcohol were booked under the sections of the  Motor Vehicle Act,” Additional Commissioner of Police (West Region), Bipin Bihari told DNA.

 

Bihari said the Carter Road incident made them beef up the checking in the city. Besides the drive, Bihari said it was high time the officials set up  speed humps and traffic signals on Carter Road. “There are no speed breakers along the entire stretch, which makes drivers run the vehicle at maximum speed. There are no traffic signals either. It is difficult for pedestrians to cross the road. We are using barricades to stop the drivers for checking,” he said.

 

 

 

 

More than 2000 lives were lost in accidents in Delhi last year. Of the 22,000-km road stretch, 22 are identified as dangerous.

 

 The Noida toll bridge and the Jaipur Highway are most often used for high-speed driving by youngsters. Though on paper the age for legal drinking of alcohol in Delhi is 25, bars usually turn a blind eye to this. At malls in Vasant Vihar and Gurgaon, schoolchildren in uniform are seen having a drink. Given the staggering worldwide toll of road accidents, November 19 will be observed as the International Day for Remembrance for Road Accident Victims by the United Nations.

 

Rajiv Baluja, president of the Institute of Road Traffic Information, which is in-charge of commemorating the UN day for the accident victims, says, “Road safety is a global crisis particularly in India, where needless lives are lost often in the prime. We plan to hold several events to make people aware of the gravity of the situation. India has one of the highest accident rates in the world. We have to make people more responsible while  driving.” According to the Delhi traffic police website, alcohol consumption was responsible for 69 per cent of road accident deaths. At least 29 per cent of drivers were involved in mishaps, the website says.

 

 

The risk being involved in an accident starts to rise significantly at a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of 40 mg for 100 ml of blood. A recent study on drivers killed in road mishaps by the Delhi traffic police has revealed that teenage drivers are 5 times accident-prone compared to drivers aged 30 and above with all levels of BAC.

 

Qumar Ahmed Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) says, “In Delhi, we have already installed 11 spots marked as danger zones with speed guns. Another 11 mobile speed and alcohol level detection units are also deployed in the city. We are also in the process of setting up a special enforcement drive. We are also mooting a programme targeting youth to curb drunken driving.”

 

 

Punishment is the weak link of the system with the first offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend only up to 6 months or a paltry fine up to Rs.2,000, or both.

 

 

 

The law is very peculiar in this matter. Under Section 185 of the Indian Penal Code, a person can only be penalised if he is driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Now, this particular term “under the influence of alcohol” means that a person cannot be
arrested if he is driving after having a couple of pegs. It has to be medically proved first that his intake of alcohol is dangerous for driving. Hence it is not possible for the police to medically check each and every person. But one thing is sure  incidences of rash driving in Kolkata are less compared to Delhi or Mumbai. And this remains so, there has been an increase in bars and pubs.”
—Probir Ganguly, officer-in-charge, Kolkata Police Traffic Control

 

 

 

 

BANGALORE: In India’s major software hub, two youngsters, both sons of the city’s elite, recently had a brush with law after a late-night drinking binge.

 

Adam Bidappa, son of fashion designer Prasad Bidappa allegedly assaulted the police, who were trying to force a pub that was serving beyond its closing hours. While Karnataka Chief Minister’s son Nikhil Gowda ransacked a restaurant and fought with its employees for refusing food past mid night.

 

Both Adam and Nikhil were drunk before they got into late-night brawl at a time when the yuppies and techies of Bangalore are up in arms against the government for stifling the nightlife in the  tech hub. Liquor vends, bars and pubs have a deadline of 11 pm, while the permissible age for people who drink is 18. “We have a strict policy of not serving beer to those who are less than 18. We check for their ID cards,” says Elango, owner of Pecos, a leading pub in Bangalore. Police say a strict drive to check drunken driving in the city has reduced the number of accidents over the past few years.

 

“We seize the vehicle and ask them to appear before the court and hefty fines are imposed. It is working as a deterrent,” says Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) MA Saleem.

 

He says the number of accidents during late nights and early morning is expected to reduce to less than 7,000 this year, as against over 10,500 in 2003.

 

In the last 10 months, nearly 23,500 people have been booked for drunken driving in Bangalore, once known as the pub capital of India.

 

 

 

 

Gujarat seems to live up to its image of a ‘dry’ state when it comes to drunken driving in the state. The Ahmedabad police, which was recently merged with the prohibition department, told DNA that cases of drunken driving in the state were few cases of such incidents leading to casualties were rare.

 

Police Commissioner KR Kaushik said, “I cannot recall many cases of drunken driving. Though there are no specific measures taken to control drunken driving, the traffic police is regularly checking vehicles till very late in the night. The police cannot be present everywhere, but we try to keep a tab on major party venues. As Gujarat is a dry state, such incidents are rare.” 

 

But former additional DGP (prohibition) RNS Brar said, “There are definitely incidents of drunken driving  but nothing turns serious. The prohibition department had had sleuths to check youngsters, but now after the city police has taken charge of the prohibition department, things may have changed.”

 

 

 

 

CHENNAI: While the legally permitted age for drinking is 21, teenagers flocking pubs and parties are not a rare sight in “conservative” Chennai.

 

Rules have it that pubs and bars should ask for age proof of youngsters, but it is not always followed, especially in group parties.

 

“We do ask for ID cards as age proof whenever someone looks under-aged, but it is not possible to turn one or two away from a group,” says the manager of a famous pub in Chennai.

 

For those who are denied access to pubs and bars, there are always the private parties. “Youngsters below the legal age do take part in private parties held in beach houses on the East Coast Road (ECR),” says a DJ, but their adult friends don’t allow them to drive.

 

The Chennai traffic police, equipped with breath-analysers, say they arrest around 100-150 youngsters on weekends, most of them while driving along the ECR.

 

“Checking drunken driving is on top of our agenda and we organise special drives for that.

 

The practice is more prevalent during weekends and a majority of offenders are below the age of 40,” says Sunil Kumar, joint commissioner of police, traffic.