Drunk driving: A social menace

Ranjan Kumar Padmapati

(rkpadmapati@yahoo.co.in)

That consumption of alcohol has become an integral part among festival revellers is evident from the fact that during the first twenty days of the festive month of October, sales from alcohol skyrocketed to a whopping sum of Rs 350 crore and within 5 days of the Durga Puja alone it clocked in Rs 120 crore worth sales all over Assam with Guwahati alone contributing an impressive Rs 60-crore mark. With western culture and aristocracy seeping into the social fabric of the Indian society, serving alcohol in various gatherings has become a mark of high social standing and gratification. Today one can see that whether it is a birthday party of a teetotaler or a boisterous marriage event or a small house party of friends, the alcohol draws people to enjoy a feeling of mutual camaraderie in social space.

However, with people getting blinded by intoxication and a high degree of adrenaline rush, the cases of roadside fatalities are on the rise. With a huge number of drunk-and-drive cases being reported the blissful drink has been reduced to become a baneful substance. The city of Guwahati witnessed two such grave incidents in the recent past: first on the night of 1st October when an intoxicated Rajkonya Baruah, an event manager injured 9 PWD workers in an accident which left a gentleman named Joseph Marak disabled for life with two of his legs getting amputated at the GMCH. Additionally, there was yet another case of roadside commotion being reported by the police in mid-night against two ladies driving a luxurious car in the Dispur area.

Drinking and driving is a criminal offence punishable under law. Road users who are impaired by alcohol carry a high risk of being involved in a road crash. It is statistically proved that alcohol is a key factor that contributes to 27% of all road injuries. Each year 1.2 million people die in road accidents worldwide. This figure is much higher than deaths caused due to natural calamities.

Drinking behaviour varies with different levels of BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration). Average speed, speed standard variation, lane positioning etc., significantly change under the influence of alcohol. Even with a small amount of alcohol consumption, drivers are at twice the risk of getting involved in a road accident. Driving skill requires attention and the ability to make a quick decision in a dynamic road environment. Consumption of alcohol slows down reflexes while driving and negates sane judgments which could avoid any potential mishaps on the road. The inebriated state of the driver makes him lose proper vision, renders him sluggish, increases the reaction time on the roads and sometimes can adversely affect the central nervous system with permanent or temporary disruptions in the digestive and circulatory system of the body. A certain variety of bacteria favourable for digestion also gets killed by alcohol in the process of any intake.

All the countries in the world have their own safe limits of BAC. While Pakistan has completely banned driving and drinking, the BAC limit in China is 0.02% and that of Canada and the UK are fixed at 0.08%. As per section 185 of the Indian Motor Vehicle Act, the threshold limit is 30mg per 100ml of blood however any excess which is beyond the permissible level is punishable under the law. Different quantum of punishments is envisaged for a different level of BAC. More the level of BAC more severe the punishment is. Sometimes it can also lead to cancellation of licence and imprisonment. In the proposed amendments of the Indian Vehicle Act, it was proposed to reduce the limit to 20mg in 100ml of blood which was welcomed by the fraternity of doctors and police. A pint of beer 330 ml, 200 ml of wine, 40 ml of whisky, brandy or vodka all individually consumed may cross the limit of 20 mg alcohol per 100 ml of blood. Today, the amendment of the Indian Vehicle Act 2021 recommends imposing a fine of Rs 10,000 on the first offence and Rs 15,000 on the second offence individually or with combined imprisonment of up to two years.

According to GOI the number of drunk driving accidents reported was 12,256 in 2019 which is believed to be under the reported figure. As per the NCRB data, 2% of the total road accidents are attributable to drunk driving. In drunk driving accidents, the severity of the injury is much more compared to other factors such as overspeeding, weather conditions, reckless driving

etc. In Delhi alone, 70% of road accident deaths are due to drunk driving cases. Another fact is that even with 0.03% of alcohol in the blood (BAC), the risk factor of a road crash is 7 times more. Two pints of beer weighing 660ml, 60ml of whisky or 2 glasses of wine 200ml will exceed the limit of 30mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. Thus, 42 per cent of drunk driving injuries end up in fatalities.

Police being the custodian of traffic rules, can play a great role in curbing drunk driving cases by breath analyzer test. The checkpoints may be at venerable points in streets by fixing road blockage to slow down the vehicles for breath analyzer test. The Delhi police had conducted such a drive between 7 PM and 9 PM by deploying 20 special teams on a particular day after lifting the lockdown and a total of 300 challans were issued as a result. In the year 2019, the same Delhi police had issued a whopping 30,000 challans against such drunk drive cases. In Assam, such a move is seldom noticed except on New Year's eve. It needs to be an ongoing process throughout the year and more teams must be involved during upcoming festivals of Diwali, Christmas or any such events during weekends or holidays.

In recent times a hi-tech device is being developed in India and abroad which will lock the ignition switch automatically in the event of exceeding alcohol limits and even if the engine starts it will also initiate a command to stop ignition in 30 seconds. This disruptive technology will be available in the Indian market very soon and can be retrofitted in the dashboard of the vehicles. As per reports circulating in the internet media, America has planned to introduce this device in all its new vehicles. Though technologies have been created as watchdogs to prevent any kind of fatalities for specific roadside cases, the onus after all lies on man alone to be more sensitive and guarded against such miscalculated actions. People in social gatherings should behave in a more responsible way. Owners of bars, pubs and hotels should serve drinks in a regulated manner and there should be the provision of driver services in such places to ferry up and down people safely at their destinations in case people get heavily intoxicated. Entrepreneurs can also develop software application solutions to address such issues in society.

It is very heartening to note that the social cost of drunk driving is tremendous; in the USA it is calculated to be $132 million dollars per year. In India, the state of Telangana has taken a special step to stop the benefits of social security schemes to drunk drivers which will work as a deterrent. Insurance cover is not applicable to drunk driving cases. Social costs include private expenses for treatments, hospitalization charges, repairing of damages, loss of income from family, court expenses etc. External costs are the third party liabilities. Low-income households are the worst sufferers in terms of loss of income (75%) compared to high-income households (45%). Drunk driving is a self-harming behaviour that drags other innocent causalities like pedestrians, cyclists, non-drinkers and others to fall prey to such menace. Hence it becomes a combined responsibility of people, police and the government of the day to work together to prevent such hazards in society.