West Bengal ranks 5th in drink drive cases

KOLKATA:

Insurance

companies will not pay any compensation to victims in accidents caused by drunk driving. Instead, the person driving under the influence of liquor will have to cough up the entire amount for causing death or injury , according to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment)

Bill

introduced in

Lok Sabha

on Friday.

However, the road transport ministry has not included the provision of trying drunk drivers for “culpable homicide not amounting to murder“ in case of death caused by them in a crash, which is a non-bailable offence and attracts a 10-year jail term. Though the ministry had accepted the recommendation of a parliamentary panel, it referred the suggestion to the home ministry as it requires an amendment in the IPC. Experts said while the provision of making drunk drivers pay the full compensation is likely to act as a deterrent, there is also a fear that in many cases, victims may end up getting little since it will depend on the income of the accused. Drink driving led to fewer than 4% of the total accidents in the state but Bengal ranked fifth in the country, its share being more than the allIndia average of 1.5%.

These statistics revealed by the

National Crime Record Bu

Accident Deaths and Sureau's 'icides in India' report has prompted experts to recommend a few measures to check drink driving, other than removing liquor vends from highways.

One of the key proposals is to identify the dark spots on the high-speed corridors and deploy the police there, armed with breathalyzers. These checks could deter people from driving after drinking, experts said. They also suggested that trauma care ambulances should be deployed at regular intervals on the highways so that in case of an accident, the victim could be ferried to hospital at the earliest, without losing the golden hour, said a senior transport department official.

The state police pointed out that their traffic wings had already adopted a slew of measures to curb drink driving.“Apart from random breathanalysis checks, we have been seizing the vehicles of offenders. For the owners, it's a longdrawn procedure to get the vehicles out of cop custody after settling the court case,“ said Bengal traffic police inspector general Manoj Verma.“Whether liquor shops are along the highway or not, drink driving is likely to continue. So, we have to take strict measures to keep the menace under check.“ Another officer pointed out that the apex court ban on liquor shops along highways had given them the opportunity to “contextualize their intensive campaign against drink driving“. “Because of the apex court ban, the `black spots' have been identified,“ he added. The state traffic police now have 200 breathalyzers, and ordered for 700 more. “We have also installed CCTV cameras near watering holes so that we can spot the habitual offenders,“ an officer said.

The intensified drive seems to show results. While in all of 2015, there was prosecution in 1,910 cases, the figure has already touched 1,271this year.

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