The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Under-age drivers ignite concern

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 31, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Under-age drivers ignite concern

Ananth Krishnan and Meera Srinivasan

New Year bashes may throw up worrying cases

— PHOTO: S.S.KUMAR.

RISKY DRIVE: The car that was involved in a road accident in Chennai on December 14, allegedly driven by a 16-year-old boy.

CHENNAI: While many teenagers and young adults are getting ready to ring in the New Year at parties and bars around the city, an increasing trend of under-age drivers and young adults driving under the influence of alcohol is a sobering reminder of the dangers on city roads.

Thousands are likely to throng the streets of Chennai on Monday night. But how many of those out on the roads will have valid licences, and more worryingly, how many will be drunk-driving?

In Chennai alone, around 6,000 cases were booked in 2007 against people driving without licences, according to Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sunil Kumar. A majority of these, he says, were below 18 years of age.

The number of accidents involving persons below 18 years is on the rise. Earlier this month, three persons were killed in a road accident involving a Mercedes Benz, allegedly driven by a 16-year-old boy on New Avadi Road in the early hours. There has also been a recent spate of accidents involving under-age drivers on two-wheelers.

Drunk driving

The problem is exacerbated by the increasing number of young adults who are driving under the influence of alcohol.

This year, as many as 10,000 people have been booked for drunken driving, on both two-wheelers and four-wheelers.

Safety is of particular concern late at night, when most traffic police are off-duty and it is difficult for authorities to monitor rash and drunken driving.

As a precautionary measure, traffic signals will operate until 3 a.m. on January 1. There will also be stringent checks at various accident-prone areas around the city.

Under-age drinking

While check-points will no doubt help, the larger problem lies in the easy access to alcohol that many under the age of 21 have. “There are still no systems in place in most night-clubs or bars,” says a first-year student of a city college.

“If you are with a group of older-looking persons, they usually let you in. You don’t have to produce any form of identification,” the 17-year-old student adds.

The manager of a popular night-club says that while most clubs are now asking for identification and enforcing the rules as much as they can, it is largely the TASMAC stores, bars and pubs that allow under-age drinking.

“I have seen even 11 and 12 year olds purchasing alcohol in roadside shops,” he says. “The moral police always point a finger at the night clubs, but you have to ask, what systems do they have there?”

He however stresses that the responsibility ultimately rests with the individuals, and there is only so much establishments can do.

Since most night clubs close at about 1 a.m., by when public transport is not easily available, most of the younger visitors tend to drive back home.

“Most night clubs even help customers arrange for call-taxis, but they still choose to drive home,” the manager says, adding, “We urge people to not drive if they are drinking.”

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