A GLASS TOO MANY
IN CASES OF SERIOUS ACCIDENTS CAUSED DUE TO DRUNKEN DRIVING, SHOULD PUBS, PARTY HOSTS AND PARENTS BE HELD GUILTY OF ABETMENT TOO?
Driving under the influence of alcohol at mind boggling speeds and running over people with their SUVs have become a frequent norm of road accidents in India.
Each time such accidents take place, police arrest and send the accused to jail, step-up checks for drunk driving, netizens air their anger; and a blame game is initiated.
And the best lawyers are engaged to ensure that the accused are released from jail soon and guards are dropped until another such incident shocks the nation.
Hyderabad once again woke up to the news of the horrific accident wherein a 25-year old Rohit Goud and his friends went pubhopping recently, and Rohit, high on alcohol, took the wheel of his swanky Porsche Cayene and reportedly drove at high speed right into two workers, killing them instantly.
Similarly, on August 1, Friendship Day, youngsters dressed in their best were out celebrating, taking advantage of the great deals on liquor offered by pubs and other watering holes. Among them was D Ashritha. After partying hard, she was returning home in a car with her friends. One of them, Abhishek, who was allegedly in a drunken condition, was behind the wheel and the vehicle crashed into roadside boulders. Ashritha died, while others escaped with minor injuries. Abhishek was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Sept 1 | Seven people, including the son of Hosur MLA Prakash Y of the DMK, were killed after the speeding Audi-Q3 they were in pavement and hit a building
June 27 | One person was killed near Cyberabad’s Inorbit Mall in Hyderabad on June 27 after a speeding Audi car hit an auto-rickshaw on its route.
| An 18-year old rammed his Mercedes AMG GLE Coupe into a Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and two cycles, killing three and injuring three more in Mohali, Punjab.
“It is the job of society as a whole, including parents, teachers and the
police, to ensure that rules are respected. Children should be made aware of the consequences of their
choices and behaviour.”
SHIKHA GOEL Senior IPS officer
FIXING EXTENDED RESPONSIBILITY
Does society have a role to play in such mishaps? How do parents allow underaged children to drive, worse still under the influence of alcohol! Why do they buy them fancy, high speed sports cars?
What about the pubs, which, in the interests of their business, continue to serve customers alcohol even though fully aware that they will get drunk, and be in no position to drive home? Should they be charged for abetting accidents, and have their licenses cancelled?
Recently, a jury in Texas awarded the largest ever personal injury compensation in that country to a family who lost two members in an accident caused by drunk driving. Tamra Kay Kindred and her 16-year-old granddaughter were hit by a man high on alcohol. The lawsuit named the bar and its owner was sued for negligence.
SUPPLIERS AS
ABETTORS?
In India, fixing of extended responsibility is yet to happen. “As long as a vehicle driver is a major, legally there is nothing we can do either against the parents or the pub/bar owners,” says A R Srinivas, DCP, West Zone, Hyderabad, where the Rohit Goud incident happened. The IPS officer however says bar and pub owners are regularly counselled to promote valet driving and prevent drunk driving.
“But if the person behind the wheel is a minor, both parents and the pubs are responsible and accountable,” he clarifies.
A MATTER OF INDIVIDUAL CHOICE
Amit Gulabani, who owns a franchise of a US-based pub Hard Rock Cafe in Hyderabad, insists that those serving alcohol are in no way responsible for the actions of those consuming it. “We, at HRC, don’t encourage our guests to drink and drive and never will,” he asserts. However, “Driving under the influence of alcohol is one of the most preventable crimes, but it starts with a choice,” he says, and feels it would be unfair to hold the restaurant responsible for serving drinks.
PARENTING POINTS
Senior IPS officer Shikha Goel feels it is part of parenting to instil values and respect for law in children. A mother of two, the IPS officer who is Additional Commissioner of Police (Crimes), Hyderabad City Police, says, “It is the job of society as a whole, including parents, teachers, media and the police, to ensure that rules are respected. Children should be made aware of the consequences of their choices and behaviour,” she says.
FAMILY INVOLVEMENT
Typically, the role of the police in road accidents involving drunk driving is limited to shifting the victim’s body to the morgue and arresting the person behind the wheel after gathering evidence from either eye-witnesses or CCTVs. The investigation does not include the pubs/bars involved, or the parents and relatives of the accused.
A police official who requested not to be named, however, points out that the uncontrolled drinking tendencies of people are usually known to their parents and/or spouses, and just because a person is an adult, families cannot absolve themselves of responsibility for that person’s irresponsible behaviour.
MATTERS OF STATE
“In the Rohit Goud case, the bartender has abetted drunk driving, which ended up in the horrific
deaths of the two people,” says former MP Konda Vishveshwar Reddy. Pointing out that instances of drunk driving happen after parties as well, he feels hosts of these parties should also be held guilty of abetment. Making a political point, he says, “Most importantly, the State Government which is encouraging drinking by opening liquor shops everywhere can also be construed to be abetting the crime of drunk driving. The State should stop encouraging alcohol sales, regardless of how much additional revenues it brings. It is a moral responsibility of the government,” he says. According to Vishveshwar
Reddy, “Alcohol sales in Telangana increased 300% after the state was formed.”
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL IS ONE OF THE MOST PREVENTABLE CRIMES, BUT IT STARTS WITH A CHOICE
— AMIT GULABANI, who owns a
franchise of Hard Rock Cafe