Drunk and driving

Drinking and driving is no big deal to Indians. Time and time again, we have incidents of reckless drunken behaviour leading to avoidable loss of life. The most recent being the Pune incident of 17 year-old Vedant Agarwal, driving an unregistered Porsche car in an inebriated case causing the death of two IT professionals. We may have to say “allegedly” since now it’s being claimed, rather conveniently as always, that the realty group scion wasn’t behind the wheels but rather his driver was. Hah!

In recent history, there have been many such incidents of driving under the influence. From high-profile old cases such as Salman Khan’s case from 2002 or the tragic killing of Kolkata model Sonika Chauhan because of rash driving by her actor friend, Vikram Chatterjee in 2017 — many deaths have been caused by the tipple. As per government data, 3,268 accidents in 2022 and 1,503 deaths were caused by drunk driving. And even as crash deaths dropped by 5 per cent globally, they continued to rise in India with a 9.4 per cent increase in road accident fatalities recorded in 2022. In the same year, 1.68 lakh people were killed either due to reckless driving, overspeeding, drunken driving, and non-compliance of traffic rules while the total number of accidents soared by 11.9 per cent to 4.61 lakh.

To understand the cavalier approach towards drunk driving, simply take a look at the survey conducted by the Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD). Of the 30,000 people that were surveyed in Delhi, a staggering 81.2 per cent admitted to driving after consuming alcohol. We have to assume that most of these people, who have access and ability to own and drive cars, have more than basic education. In spite of the awareness that’s been built around drunk driving, they still continue to foolishly trust their motoring capabilities under the influence of alcohol.

We don’t really need to look at surveys to understand the callous outlook. Very rarely, and refreshingly so, would someone at a party claim to be the designated, and therefore, sober driver. Very few times, would someone have rented a car or called a party hard driver service, predicting a heavy night of revelry and intoxication. More often than not, people who would have downed multiple drinks, would pop into the driver’s seat and take off. We have all seen or been an accomplice to this behaviour. Some of us have been saved by luck, I know I was. Years ago, when a friend’s car hit the road curb and thankfully, not another vehicle, I knew I had been saved by a guardian angel. And while I got away with a busted brow and no other injuries, it was a lesson well-learned — refuse lifts from drunk drivers and dissuade them from driving as well.

But luck smiles rarely, and is sometimes particularly cruel, if you’re an innocent person caught in the maelstrom of another’s thoughtless behaviour. The two IT professionals in the Pune accident, full of life and promise, killed on the spot by the collective irresponsible behaviour of the driver, the parents who allowed a minor to drive a super-fast, that too unregistered, car, the restaurant management who served alcohol to a minor, the friends who didn’t discourage him from driving, and the cops who didn’t catch him speeding.

Why would there be a deterrent to drunk driving if drivers get bail within hours since they are minors? Writing an essay is punishment enough and daddy’s fat wallet is able to buy off penance. There are several cases that are still languishing in the courts, while some aren’t spoken of at all. Who knows what’s happening with the Kolkata Biryani brothers’ case of 2019 where it was found that Raghib Parvez, elder son of the famous Arsalan restaurant chain, crushed two Bangladeshi nationals with his Jaguar? Similarly, four cases in Mumbai of Jahnavi Ajit Gadkar, Sumer Merchant,Vishwas Attavar, and Sandeep Shantaram Bankar, have all but vanished from memory and prosecution. There are many more from other cities too — Delhi, Bangalore, and so on. Unfortunately, as the rich and powerful get away with driving under the influence (DUI) resulting in deaths, the law is never truly an impediment; at least not to the affluent and influential. To curb drunk driving and the meaningless loss of lives, there should be a fear of the law, and that can happen only if we set precedence with stringent punishment and merciless policing on the roads.

The writer is an author and media entrepreneur. Views expressed are personal