FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
Un July this year, after the ghastly car accident on Zuari bridge that killed all the four passengers in it, Chief minister Pramod Sawant had said that nearly 95% of the road accidents that happen at night to drunken driving. Stating that steps were needed to be taken to prevent drunken driving, the chief minister had said that laws will be amended if the need arises.
He had asserted the need to stop the accidents happening due to drunken driving. Yet, from the latest fatal road accident involving a minor, shows that nothing much has changed on ground. Despite knowing fully well the dangers of drunken driving, many people are still driving vehicles under influence of alcohol and overspeeding.
Most of the time, the liquor is consumed either in a bar or purchased from a designated wine shop and consumed either in the car itself or another location. While one can’t be stopped from purchasing liquor, but the issue is there is no self-control over the quantity consumed, leading to drunken driving. Why is this happening?
President of the All Goa Liquor Traders Association, Dattaprasad Naik said that the Association has been regularly highlighting the issue of irresponsible drinking happening
in Goa.
“We have been highlighting this issue of irresponsible alcohol drinking. We have seen that too many licenses have been issued and too many permits are being issued. Every housing colony, new hotel has a wine shop at the entrance. Due to this, alcohol is very easily available,” Naik said.
Naik said that alcohol is not milk or soft drinks that can be made easily available. There are too many licenses given in Goa.
“We have always been saying that we should stop giving more licenses as we are a small State. When there are so many wine shops, it becomes easy for the younger generation to have access to alcohol. I remember, in our childhood, when any of our friends wanted to have beer, he used to feel scared to enter a liquor shop, hide somewhere and drink,” he said.
According to him, that isn’t the case now. I see youngsters in school uniform coming to my shop to buy alcohol after bunking
their classes.
“Being a responsible citizen of this country, I have strictly instructed all my sales staff not to sell liquor to anyone coming in school uniform. This responsible selling is required. Our Association has informed all our dealers that we should do responsible selling,” he said.
However, there are many liquor shops in Goa which are not following this policy of All Goa Liquor Traders Association.
“We have seen people drinking while standing outside the liquor shop at many locations in Goa. We have highlighted this issue involving our own members to the police and Excise department. But they never take any action. There has to be some action against such shops,” he said.
Naik further said that tourists feel that they have come to Goa for holidays and have the freedom to do whatever they want, even if they are causing a nuisance. This shouldn’t happen.
“Responsible consumption of alcohol is needed and there should be some fear of punitive action. Police should be taking strict action against drug abuse and alcohol, which is not happening. There is a spurt in crime rate. There is no fear of law. This has to change,” Naik said.
While someone can’t be prevented from seeking a driving license, can the RTO introduce more measures as a deterrent to see that the licensing process is stricter to prevent road accidents?
Edwin de Souza, Assistant Director of Transport, Government of Goa said that currently, the Learners License is being issued online. After turning 18, he or she appears for an online test for getting a Learners License. Within a month, the person then can apply for permanent license by giving a skill test.
“Whatever we can do is being done. We assess the driving skills physically on the road. Only then the license is issued after completing all the due procedures. We check for all the necessary parameters before issuing a driving license,” de Souza said.
But will it be better to have more checks and balances to see whether the person applying for a driving license is actually aware of all the rules and regulations?
“At the time of taking the test, the applicant shows complete awareness of all the rules. But he or she starts violating the law soon after getting the license. This is a point of concern,” the Assistant Director of Transport said.
When a person commits an accident and takes a life, it is proven that the driver was driving rashly and or was under influence of alcohol. If that data is available on a case-to-case basis, can’t there be a law which ensures that the license of that person is suspended indefinitely?
“The data is being collected under the database called the IRD – Integrated Road Accident Database. There are multiple departments involved in this viz Transport, Police, Health and Highways. Data received from all these departments is fed into the system,” de Souza said.
This data is used to identify whether there are any black spots on the roads. Depending on the data, the accused driver is chargesheeted under Section 184 of Motor Vehicles Act, which is rash driving and Section 185 (drunken driving). In both these cases, if it is a serious accident, then the driver will be chargesheeted.
“Simultaneously, the case is sent to us for suspension of license. In case of at least drunken driving, the license is immediately suspended for a minimum period of three months. It can be more, up to six months. Nowadays, courts even suspend licenses for two years. The person is debarred from driving,” the senior official from the Transport Department said.
Moses Pinto, an advocate and author wondered how the minor involved in the death of a woman, got access to a vehicle.
“Since Section 184 has been cited, I would also like to speak about Section 180 of Motor Vehicles Act that prohibits unauthorised use of a vehicle. According to this Act, if a driver does not have a valid license, that person can’t drive or ride a vehicle on the road,” he said.
“Section 180 prescribes punishment for the owner of the automobile which can range from three months to a year if it is found that the access to vehicle led to circumstances such as death due to a road crash,” Pinto said.
He further added that in Goa what is lacking is that the owner of the vehicle is not charged directly for providing access to the vehicle to the person who is in contravention of the law.
“Ultimately a teenager, like in the case of the Chicalim accident, could not have possession of the vehicle unless the keys were provided by the owner. In my opinion, the deterrent factor that we need to impose right now, is to have an order of preventive nature, where awareness is generated to all vehicle owners on not to provide access of vehicles to persons not in possession of valid driving license,” the advocate said.
In that sense, the rent-a-cabs and bikes operators should be also careful while letting out their vehicle. They should not be lending their vehicles to the customers not having valid driving licenses.
Advocate Pinto said that due diligence is taken by rent-a-car operators while handing over vehicles. But one needs to factor in the fact that who else is going to drive the vehicle.
“In abroad, car rental operators ask whether I would need an additional driver. One has to pay additional insurance and validate the credentials of the additional driver. They take all the information about the additional driver from his or her passport. The information is then logged and shared with the local authorities,” he said.
He said that the same procedure should be followed in Goa. While letting out the vehicle, it can be found out who else would be driving the vehicle. Then the details should be shared with the authorities.
Why are the cases of drunken driving increasing and why aren't there enough checks and balances to curb this menace?
Responding to the question, Adv Pinto said that the prospect of facing trial for violating the provisions of Motor Vehicles Act does not act as a deterrent upon the person who engages in rash and negligent driving.
“I have come across presumptions in the Indian Evidence Act. For example, if we take Section 498 A of the Indian Penal Code. It deals with cruelty to the female spouse. When it is found that a newly married woman had an unnatural death, the presumption is the in-laws are to be also investigated and charged. The angle of dowry is also to be investigated,” he said.
In the scenario of road safety, why can’t there be a presumption that a particular act would lead to a certain consequence?
“The trial only looks at the facts and the court gives its judgement on the basis of the aftermath. Here in this scenario, if you want to be proactive, you ought to have the presumption approach,” he said.
The advocate said that there is a provision for this in the Motor Vehicles Act. A person who is a habituated user of inebriating substances, he shall not be given a renewal of licenses. This provision exists.
“In the same way, why can’t it be presumed that certain groups of drivers, for instance the new group this is from the 18-21 years, their judgement may not be at par with the more seasoned drivers. There is a section in the Motor Vehicles Act which states that driving license for commercial vehicles can be given only after attaining age of 20 years. But you will get the license for private Light Motor Vehicle after turning 18,” he said.
These two years of classification have been imposed for a certain reason because managing a motor vehicle involves a certain responsibility.
“If presumption can be used for classification between transport and non-transport, it should be also used in case of new entrants who come on the road and are prone to step onto the paddle and accelerate,” Adv Pinto said.
Dilip Naik, Convenor, Goa Road Safety Forum said that drunken driving is like fuel to fire.
“There was a Decade of Action from 2010-20 and a universally acceptable formula was given to reduce road accidents by 50 per cent, called the 4-Es, which are education, engineering, enforcement and emergency service. But there has been a lot of lapses in implementing this 4-Es formula in Goa and India as a whole,” Naik said.
In the case of the Chicalim accident, the boy who hit the woman was travelling from Mapusa to Vasco. In the process of his journey, he passed through a lot of road junctions having policemen deployed there without being checked.
“None of the traffic policemen on duty that day stopped the boy even for a cursory check. The police have the eye to suspect illegality. They would have known that the driver seemed like a minor driving a car and should have been stopped somewhere enroute,” Naik said.
It should be investigated by the police department as to how a minor travelled so far driving a car undetected.
“The Motor Vehicles Act has also spelt out the syllabus for driving schools in detail. But the driving schools hardly follow it. They say that their customers say that they already know all the rules and have come to them only for the driving license as it is mandatory to join a driving school to get a license,” he said.
Following a petition filed in the Supreme Court, the apex court in its 2012 judgement ruled that mere ability to drive should not make the person eligible to get a driving license, as presently done.
“According to the data available with me, 4,370 people approached driving schools in Goa, out of that 4,300 people got licenses. I don’t know why these 70 people failed. But if you see, the Goa Road Safety Forum can test the drivers on the road and find out their driving capability,” he said.
Criticising the Goa Traffic Police for failing to check drunken driving, Dattaprasad Naik said that the traffic inspectors stationed at various road junctions are more busy collecting fines from tourist vehicles and the yellow number plate self-driven private taxis. It hardly fines local Goan drivers.
“This is what the role of traffic police is. They aren’t interested in ensuring a smooth traffic flow. They are interested only in collecting fines rather than clearing the traffic chaos in places like Cortalim junction and other such busy locations. They are more interested in going after rent-a-cab cars, outstation cars and bikes,” he said.
On the issue of grouping of drivers for issuing licenses on the basis of their age, Edwin de Souza said that there is Section 180 of Motor Vehicles Act states, “allowing somebody to drive who is unauthorised, should be penalised. Section 188 penalises that person for violating the Act.
“We all say we are responsible citizens. If that is so, then we must not give vehicle keys to minors or those not having valid driving licenses. In one of the schools, children at the age of 16-17 ride bikes. When they see a traffic cop, they won’t come with a bike. I feel it is also the responsibility of the parents to ensure safety of their children and others on the roads,” the Assistant Director of Transport, Government of Goa said.
He added that under Section 180 parents can be penalised for allowing the children to drive or ride a motor vehicle and under Section 188 for abetting the act.
“For transport vehicles it is mandatory to attain the age of 20 years or one year driving experience. When you are going to drive a transport vehicle, it would be a goods vehicle, passenger bus or a taxi with a transport license. So, he should gain experience before driving transport vehicles,” he said.
But the general impression of the Motor Vehicles Act is you are a responsible citizen and will be driving responsibly.
“The 20 years threshold age and one year driving experience has been set for driving transport vehicles because you are going to carry passengers also. You will be responsible for people’s safety,” Edwin de Souza said.
The party season in Goa is all set to begin and there would be a spurt in drunken driving cases. When we go abroad, or metro cities like Delhi or Bengaluru or Mumbai, there is always a designated driver in a group to drive back home after a party, who won’t drink. Or they will take a taxi home. There is a sense of discipline amongst Indians in other cities. What changes when the same set of people come to Goa?
Also, lack of proper public transport in Goa is also an added problem with the issue of drunken driving.
“What I have noticed while travelling abroad and other parts of India, the accessibility of carpooling and various other kinds of public transport is available even at odd hours in the evening. So, the logistics of being able to access alternate modes of transport is what enables the person to actually partake in the revelry that is going on along with it,” Adv Moses said.
Here in Goa, the road network is facing infrastructural difficulties. But more importantly, there is no public transport facility available late at night or early morning. There are app-based taxis to take home.
“Also, the designated driver is also under the social pressure to partake in the consumption of alcohol, otherwise it would seem rude. You can’t be in a flock of people together, yet not mimic their behaviour. So, the fact remains is what is the action being taken at that time as a deterrent,” he said.
According to Dilip Naik the key to stop drunk driving menace is fear of law, which is not there either amongst the Goans or tourists because the enforcement of the various legal provisions is not strong enough.
“Enforcement can be done through proper checks by traffic police personnel, RTO authorities and installation of CCTV cameras at all important road junctions. The Traffic Sentinel scheme was introduced, but later on junked following protests. We must not scrap something if it is not functioning properly. We must find out the reason and take corrective steps,” Naik said.
Dattaprasad Naik lamented on the degrading respect for police in the society. “In our childhood, the very mention of certain policemen struck a terror in our hearts because of their strictness. But sadly, that is not there anymore. People don’t fear the authorities – be it the traffic police, RTO or the town police,” he said.
He said that there is a chain of wine shops in various parts of Goa, including one opposite Saligao police station. It violates all the rules but there is no action.
“When I took up the matter with the Excise Department, the officials said that they did not have a vehicle to go and conduct a raid. This is outrageous. This is the kind of approach we see from government agencies. This way we won’t be able to control the menace of drunken driving,” he said.
It is amply clear that drunken driving poses a huge threat to commuters. Unless it is dealt with an iron fist by the government authorities, Goa roads will continue to soak in the blood of innocent people.
