With the gruesome accident at west Delhi's Janakpuri area today, which claimed the lives of two men and severely injured another, the menace of drunken driving in the city has again come to the fore.
"Over 2,000 persons were challaned for drunken driving in the national capital in the last 10 days and we shall continue to come down heavily on such drivers," Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sandeep Goel said.
Delhi Police have also started a programme in which minors are sensitised about drunken driving so that they become responsible drivers as adults and also encourage them to stop others in their family from indulging in such acts, he added.
According to Prince Singhal, Founder of Campaign Against Drunken Driving, over 60 per cent cases of fatal accidents reported in Delhi are cases of drunken driving.
"It is high time that drunken driving be made a non bailable in nature. The perpetrators can either be booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder or a new law, to be implemented across all states, should be designed for the issue," Singhal added.
Two persons, including an elderly man, who were out for morning walk were killed and another was critically injured after they were knocked down by a speeding car being allegedly driven by a 21-year-old student in a highly inebriated state in west Delhi's Janakpuri area.
This was the second such case in the city this year in which the accused was slapped with the more stringent charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder instead of that of causing death by negligence, which is bailable in nature.
Earlier this year, in the Mercedes hit-and-run incident reported in north Delhi's Civil Lines area, the accused, who was four days short of 18 years on the day of the accident, was slapped with the same charge.
IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) is a more stringent charge being non bailable and punishable with imprisonment for life or for a term which can extend upto 10 years, apart from fine, unlike IPC Section 304 A (causing death by negligence) which is bailable in nature and punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or both.
