Hyderabad: Over 6,400 motorists have been jailed for drunk driving in two years but drunks continue to bedevil the city’s roads. Traffic cops book over 1,200 drunk drivers, but social workers and psychologists say there are many reasons why motorists still hit the road under the influence of alcohol.
Social worker T. Satish Gupta said the number of drivers booked would have been greater but for traffic cops becoming predictable. “Most motorists know the spots where traffic cops conduct the checks. They also know the timing of the checks. It becomes easy for them to escape the net.”
Psychologist Pragya Rashmi said drunk driving was not perceived as a threat by many people. Despite creating awareness about the dangers involved and health issues, people continue to drive drunk. “Stricter punishment should be given,” she said.
Dr S.V. Nagnath, counselling psychologist with a corporate hospital, said liquor is available on main roads and people are allowed to consume it at the liquor shops. Most people travel by personal vehicles. After they consume alcohol, they have to go back home. “Lack of social responsibility among the motorists is also responsible for cases not coming down,” he said.
“There is a need to study why drunk driving is continuing. There are people who continue to do it despite having been jailed. That’s ‘due to lack of guilty conscience and may be a psychological disorder which must be handled tactfully,” Dr Nagnath said.
Traffic police contended that their drives had created fear among motorists. Otherwise, there would have been more drunks at the wheel, said M. Srinivasulu, Traffic Training Institute inspector, Goshamahal. DCP Traffic L.S. Chauhan said the traffic police changes the places where they conduct checks, and over 35,000 cases of drunk driving have been booked in two years.
