The recent conviction of a 39-year-old businessman to a 10-day simple imprisonment for drunken driving, said to be the first of its kind in Karnataka, is expected to act as a deterrent in bringing down the number of drunken driving cases. A hefty fine of `3,000 was also imposed on the occasion.
ACP S A Pasha, Bangalore traffic department opines the conviction will definitely bring down the menace of drunken driving. “The judgement will now force people to rethink before they take on the wheels after a drinking binge. Probably, they will now hire cabs instead. We have always aimed at creating safe travel for people and the judgement will make our intensified campaign a little easy,” said Pasha.
Stressing on the need to impound the licence of offenders, traffic expert M N Sreehari says, “There should not be any excuse for people driving under the influence of alcohol. Their licences should be impounded at the first instance itself. Anyhow, these people will end up doing the same thing after they finish serving the term. Having said that, I would like to add that I am happy that the court has come down heavily on such offenders.”
On March 1, 2012, the Union Cabinet approved the proposed changes to the Motor Vehicle Act wherein ‘drunk driving would be dealt with higher penalty and jail terms’ including fines ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000 and imprisonment from six months to four years. “One of the main purpose of punishment is to bring in a deterrent effect and in this case, it has caused its desired result. It is high time both the young and the old take the laws of this country seriously, “ says Chidananda, a lawyer. On the contrary, Sandeep S R, another lawyer feels that the rich brats who can get away from the hammer of law are least bothered about such convictions. He says, “Many feel, they can get away with committing offences by paying money and thereby, they can cheat the law.”
Citizens speak: “We should look up to the US in the matter of bringing down the cases of drunken driving. Washington had once come up with something called a graduated driver licensing system wherein teenagers would begin with a probationary licence before moving on to full-fledged driving. They are prohibited to drive during the night till they attain the licence.
The law resulted in lowering incidents of accidents involving teens in Washington. As such, the sentence of a few days will not affect a regular offender,” said Rohit Sigh, an MNC employee.
He further questions, “Is ten days imprisonment enough for a person who has violated the rule, third time in a row?”
On the other hand, Harish R says, “I have friends who used to drink and drive, but after this recent conviction they are really scared to take any further risk. This indicates that it is a beginning for creating awareness among the motoring public.”
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