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Drunken drivers on rise in the city
Written By Richa.Dhodi - 2 March, 2009
Traffic Bangalore Safety Analysis Enforcement drunk driving
The City Traffic Police statistics this year shows a seven per cent increase in the number of drunken drivers as compared to 2007. This year 29,608 cases have been registered till December 13. In this month alone the Bangalore Traffic West and Traffic East recorded about 957 cases reported against drunken drivers. 27,644 such cases were registered last year.
K. Srinivasa, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Traffic East) said that the department in different corners of the city has installed 100 Alco meters, a breath alcohol tester, to check the drunken drivers. "We can give warning to people but we can’t stop them from drinking," he added. He further said that during the breath analyzer test, people caught for drunken driving foul-mouth the police officers on duty. B.Shivkumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Traffic West) said that people are not following the rules. He also blamed the lack of awareness among people regarding the quantity of alcohol that should be consumed. "People don't know the difference between drinking and getting drunk," he added.
Mohammed Sajjad Khan, police inspector, Traffic East said that drunken driving has increased mainly because drinking-related road accidents have been continuous, despite adopting effective measures. "Drinking is a social stigma now, "he added. He further said that 'special drive' a category of police has been specially allotted to spot the drunker drivers in the city. However, the city dwellers seem to think it is their individual right to drink and drive. “What is the problem in drinking and driving? We pay taxes,” said Rahul Pretam, a software engineer.
COMMENTS
mcadambi - 2 March, 2009 - 18:29
There are *strict* laws for DUI in the US. One can be convicted of manslaugher (similar to murder) and could be imprisoned for life or at times even the death penalty.
In India, the Indian Penal Code provides a maximum of 2 years in prison for DUI.
We recently saw the case of Karthik Somiah. He had even killed a man much earlier. Karthik Somiah was on a two wheeler then. Today even after killing three people in Indiranagar, he is out on bail and he will spend a maximum of 2 years in prison, if at all.
Coming to the current topic, DUI is increasing since October 2008, because of the economic slow down. It is common to drown in your sorrows during such hard times, but then that is no excuse for reduction of VAT on kingfisher!
IMO, the Indian Penal Code needs to be massively amended w.r.t DUI and a charge of manslaughter should be applied to those who kill people while DUI.
I was pulled up for suspected DUI donkeys years ago after having some fun in cape cod driving into Boston. I passed the tests as the alcohol hadnt kicked in yet. He had caught me just out of the pub. What he told me politely when he let me off still rings in my ears. He said "I am asking your friend to drive because not only do I want you to reach home safely but I dont want you to put other innocent people at risk".
Drunken driving monitoring not for VIPs
Vasanth - 27 March, 2009 - 03:32
I have seen police checking for drunken driving, but, mostly for 2 wheelers and for small cars. They are afraid to check the Big Cars and SUVs since they think VIPs or relatives of VIPs will be travelling in these hifi cars and SUVs. This is not necessarily for drunken driving checking, even for documents verification also.
This leads to many loop holes recently being Karthik Somiah's hit case at Indiranagar.
Friday Nights and Saturday Mornings Risky to walk
Vasanth - 3 March, 2009 - 02:18
I go for walking after dinner and again in the morning. I found it is highly risky on Friday nights and Saturday mornings because of the weekend beginning of the 'IT folks'. On one friday night, I was about to be hit by a Santro who was on the wrong side, came rashly and stopped just behind me with sudden braking. He poked out of the car and said "Just for fun dude". I just told him, "It is your turn dude, come out, I will do the same thing to you and you have the same fun".
Footpaths are very bad near my locality (Kattriguppe), where footpaths were made not even 1 feet wide for road widening, forcing us to walk on sides of the road. This makes pretty dangerous to walk especially on the main roads. Again we have the transformers, parked vehicles obstructing the walking path.
Somiah's accident on Saturday morning is another evidence for this. Pedestrains and morning and late night walkers, please be extra careful or skip walking on Friday Nights, Saturday Mornings, December 31st and January 1st early morning.
With due respect to the court, I felt the decision given in favour of Karthik Somiah even after repeated accidents upholds the judgement which is not at all concerned about "human lives" and not peenalising "drunken driving". 50,000 rupees bail is a throw away for a person like Somiah. The lawyer aruged "it was unintentional killing". But drinking was intentional right? Why the case was not taken to the higher courts is the question.
roshanrk - 2 March, 2009 - 10:33
This will help in 2 ways. People will realize how much is ok and when they need to hire an Auto to get home. Also, the cops cannot take you for a ride by claiming you are drunk even if you've just had one mug of beer. After this info is available, only strict enforcement will deter people. Since alco-meters are available as evidence, once the reading is taken, the person will have to pay up the fine or spend time in jail.
The cops don't have to take any abusive language from anyone once they have the required proof. If a person acts too cocky, arrest him and let him spend time in jail. Without being strict and assertive, nobody will take these drives seriously.
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