In the last two years, almost every opposition party has taken a stand against sale of alcohol in the State, blaming the drinking habit for a number of social ills including the rise in road accidents.
For these parties, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2014 might come as a shock.
New data
In a first, the NCRB has released analysis of causes of accidents in its data set this year, throwing light on what really was transpiring on the ground. Startlingly, deaths due to drunken driving are a negligible cause if one took the NCRB data as accurate.
Tamil Nadu occupies the unenviable position as the leader in road accidents in the country. It recorded 67,250 cases in 2014, a 1.5 percentage points increase from 66,238 cases recorded in 2013. The capital Chennai recorded 9465 cases, the highest among cities in the country. Surprisingly, only 587 of these cases in the State have been attributed to ‘Driving under the influence of Drug/Alcohol’, which resulted in the death of 53 persons alone. Among these, 47 cases were registered in Chennai alone, which means the rest of Tamil Nadu recorded only six cases under this group.
In contrast, the category of ‘Dangerous or Careless Driving etc’ saw 14,086 cases in Tamil Nadu with 3482 persons losing their lives whereas ‘Over Speeding’ killed 6533 persons. Even weather conditions played a larger role in road accidents, taking 712 lives.
Dangerous inference
Does the data mean the link between alcohol and road accidents have been exaggerated? Experts feel this would be a dangerous inference to draw since several factors could have contributed to the low numbers.
Former Executive Director of National Transportation Planning and Research Centre, N.S. Srinivasan, said there are gaping loopholes in the recording of causes of accidents and collection of data across the country.
“It is the local policeman who fills up the relevant data. Mostly, these persons do not have the required training and do not take the work too seriously. Besides, the infrastructure for testing alcohol levels is lacking and hence we have seen other reasons being attributed,” he said.
A study
Reflecting on his studies, Mr. Srinivasan said road accidents in urban centres spike on Friday and Saturday nights, which was a clear indication of alcohol being a big factor. “Corruption also plays a part in under reporting. The families of victims may not want this reason [alcohol] to be registered as it makes getting compensation from insurance companies difficult,” he said.
Hit-and-run cases
Former Director General of Police, R. Nataraj, said in many hit-and-run cases, the offenders surrender at a later stage. “It is only when you catch them immediately that you can prove liquor consumption. If you look at the data, cases of large vehicles taking out pedestrians and two-wheelers are always high. In many of these instances, alcohol is the reason,” he said.
Tamil Nadu occupies the unenviable position as the leader in road accidents in the country
