NEW DELHI: With the New Year’s eve around the corner, here’s a survey which shows how drunk driving in the National Capital is a serious menace. Around 72 per cent people out of a total of 5,000 agreed to driving drunk on Delhi roads, especially during the festive season, according to a recent survey.
Out of total respondents, 3,605 drivers agreed to have driven drunk. Out of these, nearly 1,768 agreed to do so regularly and the remaining 1,837 agreed to do it occasionally.
The research was conducted at prominent fuel stations in the city among 5,000 people all above the age of 18 years, between October 23 and December 8, 2018, by Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD), a non-profit organisation. Respondents included drivers of private vehicles, commercial vehicles such as autos, taxis, radio cabs, app-based cabs, lorries, trucks, vikrams, school buses, and vans.
“The survey primarily established the prevalence of drunk driving and how commonly it is practiced by drivers across varied sections of society, besides increase in numbers during the festive season and winter months,” said Prince Singhal, road safety expert and CADD founder.
The report said over the last decade, alcohol serving outlets have increased by more than 50 per cent in Delhi, the vehicular population has increased from 60 lakh to one crore and the drinking age for youth has gone down from 19 years to 13 years. These are some of the parameters with an upward trend that directly contribute to increase in drinking and driving on capital roads, it added.
“Drunk driving is treated as a rash and negligent traffic offence often clubbed with speeding, which in itself is one of the biggest bottlenecks in addressing this road safety hazard. What’s missing is the presence of a separate section under the IPC to punish drunk drivers even after they cause death or grievous injury, which in itself is contributing to more number of people taking to wheels after drinking,” said Singhal.The report said while in the last decade prosecution went up from 7,000 to 27,000, indicating that drunk driving is rising, but enforcement was a “weak link.”