CHENNAI: Recently, a woman lawyer in Mumbai made national headlines after she allegedly rashdrove her Audi under the influence of alcohol and rammed a taxi killing two persons. The much attention the incident drew may be partly because of the fact that the offender was a high profile lawyer and a woman.
But are the average women in Chennai far more responsible when they are behind the wheels? Of course this city is often associated with a conservative tag, but no longer a place where women taking alcohol is a taboo.
When City Express spoke to several of the traffic inspectors, they say they had never come across a case of drunken women drivers. “During night vehicle checks, I have come across drunken women travelling in cars. But I have not come across a single case where drunk women were the drivers,” says a traffic inspector.
The line was exactly similar by many other cops from constable to sub-inspectors, who were in the business of directly dealing with the drivers.
Does this mean that in a city that has so many women drivers and also pubs that do not allow stag entries, women exhibit much more road safety consciousness than their male counterparts? Police say that out of the 18,364 drivers booked in Chennai for drunken driving, none was a woman.
But not every one agree with the police. “The police are so biased. They make the bike riders get down from the vehicle when they want to check papers, but never do so to the people in cars. So I think they often assume women driving won’t be drunk and let them go without checking,” says A Yuvraj, a 24-year-old management executive, who admits to having paid hefty fines for drunken driving.
But women say they are indeed careful in avoiding excessive drinking, if they want to drive. “I am strictly what people would consider a social drinker, not because I don’t like drinking when there is company, but because I prefer having ‘too much’ only when I am at home or at a friend’s place. Most often when I drink at a pub, I ensure that I keep it to two shots so that I can drive home without having to worry about being given the evil eye by cops or having men constantly offering to drive me home,” says Christy P, a model and designer. Asha S, a college student, says “Drinking and driving isn’t as bad as people make it out to be as long as you’re in control or you know what the limit is. We are usually out partying as a bunch and at least one person is sober or just one beer down, so we’re responsible enough to know how everybody is getting home.”
