CHENNAI: Ask five-year-old Anbarasu if he wants to go home, and he swiftly nods his head, preparing to leave the room. But the place he once called home was the pavement along the Taramani 100-ft road, the same place he lost his parents to an accident caused by a drunk driver three and a half years ago.
On that fateful day, October 13, 2014, the 18-months-old Anbarasu was fast asleep, with his father Arumugam (34) and Aishwarya (28), who was six months pregnant and another elderly woman, when an overspeeding grey hatchback taxi ran over them, leaving Anbarasu orphaned.
The driver had knocked down a cow before that, and the car finally came to a halt after hitting a signboard on the platform.
A Child Welfare Committee staff recalls the day the child was brought to the welfare home where he now lives. “He was sitting on the table and there were many people around him trying to feed him and play with him. Little did he know that his parents were no more,” she says. “He was too tender to even realise that he was missing out on the love and affection of his parents, so he did not cry.”
At an age when most kids who live with their families are still trying to figure out which shoe goes on which foot, Anbu is busy getting ready for school. “Just like his name, Anbarasu, which means ‘King of love’, he is known to be loving. For instance, not only does he get ready on his own to go to school, he also makes sure he helps the younger children in the same room to get ready,” smiles Anbu’s caretaker.
She points out that the only time he gets sad is when his friends leave home for their vacation or on weekends. Though his aunt and grandmother visit him almost on all weekends, he constantly wonders why other children get to go home while he doesn’t. “After every visit of his aunt and grandmother, he would cry, but he has realised that the children’s home is where he belongs, at least for now,” points out the caretaker.
According to statistics from the State Traffic Planning Cell (STPC) data, around 24,334 cases have been registered against drunk drivers in Chennai. And 1,175 people lost their lives in 2016, with the figures rising to 1,301 in 2017 under various reasons.
Drunk driving is believed to be one of the leading reasons for road accidents. Some activists complain that while there have been several road accidents in the city as a result of drunk driving, police are sometimes pressured to not register the case as such, as the insurance company would not pay compensation if a ‘drink-and-drive’ case is registered, and it is proven later that the driver was drunk during the time of accident.
“Drinking and driving, especially with a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level of over 0.05 g/dl (grams per decilitre), greatly increases the risk of a crash and the possibility of a crash resulting in death or serious injury,” says Dr Gaurav Gupta of WHO. He also points that young people are at a greater risk of alcohol- related road crashes, and this can be reduced by 24 percent by laws that establish to lower the BAC to around 0.02 g/dl.
Points to ponder
Drunk driving or driving under influence (DUI), refers to drinking alcohol and then operating a motor vehicle
Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is the percentage of alcohol in the bloodstream
The BAC legal limit is 0.03% or 30 µl alcohol in 100 ml blood
On 1 March 2012, the Union Cabinet approved proposed changes to the Motor Vehicle Act. Higher penalties were introduced, including fines from `2,000 to `10,000 and imprisonment from 6 months to 4 years
Critical thinking and fine motor skills may drop after even a few sips, say experts