The great drunken driving con

Chances are that the breathalyzer test that the traffic constable subjected you to might have read wrong alcohol content in your blood

NEW DELHI: Have you ever been caught drinking and driving? Hold your breath. Chances are that the breathalyzer test that the traffic constable subjected you to might have read wrong alcohol content in your blood. Even as India is witnessing a huge campaign against drunken driving, the authorities lack correct standards and foolproof machines to authenticate if the driver is drunk.

That the country lacks standards to authenticate drunken drivers was raised during a parliamentary standing committee meeting which has recommended the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways to go for international standards that should prescribe standards for breath analysers sand parameters to decide drunkenness.   

The standing committee on transport, tourism and culture in its report on the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2016 found that the modalities to trace the drugs in blood are not available with authorities, and people driving under the influence are going unchecked.

“The method of testing the alcohol in the blood of offender is not foolproof and the standard of breath analyser is also not good enough which could give authentic report,” the committee observed.

According to international standards, one who has more than 30 miligram of alcohol per 100 ml of blood comes under the category of drunk. The breath alcohol tester converts it into blood alcohol ratio through a formula. The ratios used in the entire world are based on the type of a body and food consumed.

“But the problem is that the Government of India has not decided upon the formula and so when we talk about drunken driving testing with breath alcohol analyser, we still don’t have a formula to calculate it,” said the committee headed by Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy.

The ministry has been asked to go for testing machines of international standard that should prescribe standards for breath analyser machines and various parameters to decide drunkenness.

Having correct standards and foolproof apparatus holds importance as, according to the new amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act, 2016, fines have been increased from the current Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000 to deter would-be offenders.