Drunk Driving Law, its requirement and misuse in Nepal!

Drunk Driving Law, its requirement and misuse in Nepal!

Nabin Rajbhandari

Let me get one thing abundantly clear, just because I am writing this article does not mean that I am in support of any intoxicated individual handling a vehicle which has the potential to harm another person. An intoxicated individual should always appoint another sober person to drive. It is always advisable to have a designated driver assigned before you go out to paint the town red. Saying that, the main points to be considered is the leniency required in policing such activities. Intoxication and inability to perform task by an individual only occurs after a certain amount of alcohol has been consumed. Although other countries also have a zero tolerance for drinking and driving, most developed countries have a tolerance limit for alcohol consumption.

Figure 1 http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&client=firefox-beta&sa=X&tbo=d&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1280&bih=709&tbm=isch&tbnid=id9G1NclsB2pMM:&imgrefurl=http://anjungsainssmkss.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/the-effects-of-alcohol-on-health/&docid=z8_O-PT86Z

Our country Nepal is a small country, but the cultural that ethnic division of the countries is widely varied. It is considered to be extremely offensive in some cultures if items offered, is not accepted. This is not unique in our country only, if we look at the top 15 countries which consume the most alcohol according to cnbc ( http://www.cnbc.com/id/41990305/15_Countries_That_Consume_The_Most_Alcohol?slide=17 ) we can’t even come close to them with a 15 feet pole. Yet our law sets the bar of alcohol consumption at zero tolerance. Forget drinking till you are so inebriated that you are not able to perform the basic function with even 30 percent accuracy. The zero tolerance for alcohol law doesn’t permit any trace of alcohol in a body while operating any kind of vehicle.

At this point in time, I would like to remind you a simple fact. The zero tolerance is only in the use of alcohols, but not in the case of other substances. People have been using other narcotic substances without any effect of repercussions to their reputation. Illegal drugs and substance have been used in their daily lives and in the performance of their daily tasks such as driving.

 

When you ride out in the evening time in the capital city of Kathmandu what you can usually expect a road blockade along either the busier trafficked road or a side street to these heavily trafficked road (where the traffic police expect a rider will turn to when the rider suspects a check to be going on). A heartless question about whether any alcohol has been consumed follows. Upon a negative answer to the question a request is made to blow into the breathalyzer, which would probably confirm your previous statement. After the confirmation you are asked to leave (with a somewhat disappointment, in the face of examiner), this is about the time when you feel as if you are free to live the life of a free man, freed from the shackles of their lifelong oppressors. That is until there is another check post, probably 1km away where you are asked to repeat the whole process again.

Before we pass judgment on such a heinous crime that we could have committed unknowingly. Let us look at what was the main purpose of all this night activity and how much this has benefitted us. The main goal of this ambitious project is to ultimately reduce the number of traffic related accidents that are occurring in the roads.  Mind you, we are not following any religious extremism which condemns any individual who are indulging in the passionate crime of consuming alcohol. The main goal is simply to reduce the number of accidents that occur in the streets of the country.

Now let’s look at the cause of road accidents: careless driving, speeding, drunken driving, driving under the influence of other narcotic substances,  vehicle condition, road condition, weather condition, defective design of road, fatigue and road occupants.  But out of all this alcohol has been the centre point of all the commotion, because of its famous impairment of the hand eye coordination, and the elated euphoria that is promised at the end of every bottle.

We delve deeper now, to the drink, the cause and the instrument. Drinking alcohol causes a sense of stupor, inebriation and intoxication. Fancy words …. But what do they really mean? What does it mean to be in a state to intoxication? It is the state when an individual begins to or has lost control of his senses (sight, hearing, touch etc). The type of intoxication induced by different substance causes different type of sensations. Banned substances, more commonly marijuana, cocaine, and heroine; are not tested while driving. But the impairment caused by these substances is even more hazardous and undetectable unless a blood or urine test is performed. 

Blood alcohol content (BAC), the holy grail of the night time escapades. What does it actually mean? BAC is the total blood alcohol percentage in the blood. But there is a little confusion in the way it is interpreted. When blowing in the breathalyzer .01 does not mean that the total alcohol concentration is 1%. In actuality, it means that the total alcohol concentration is .01%. In Nepal even 0.01 is an offence whereas in America in most states the allowed limit is 0.08. Japan also has a zero tolerance law, but it depends on the police, when you are stopped and even if you have not drank anything you can still be detained if the police feel that you are too tired.

0.29 reading on the indicator, the average individual appears normal. Up to 0.059 and the individual feel relaxation and joyousness with a slight loss of concentration, but still in control of all their senses. After this there is a loss of reasoning, depth perception and glare recovery. But this all depends on person to person. The larger the individual the faster the individual recovers by burning the alcohol in his system faster.

Roads are meant to be ridden at comfortable cruising speeds for the vehicle. The road blocks now, for the drunken driving checks, in Kathmandu are haphazard and serious traffic strain. Where almost all the individual encountered in the roadblock are checked. First by breathing in to the face of the in charge officer, and after that into the breathalyzer. Upon which they are released in to the wild night.

Multiple questions to the reader and the law makers: what if the vehicle was stolen? What if the bluebook had expired?  What if the driver didn’t have a valid driving license? What if the driver was a multiple offence holder who was not allowed to drive. All of these questions are overlooked. It doesn’t matter if the bike is stolen; if you are sober it’s ok. It doesn’t matter if you are underage it’s ok. Everything is ok as long as you don’t drink.

We murmur at the roadblocks and gossip around the coffee table around with our friends over about the new system. But imagine yourself at the other end. In the cold winter chill, it’s your duty to check all the riders. It’s not what you want to do but something you have to do, it’s your job. One after one you sniff the breadth of the rider and pass the night. One day, you come down with a fever; you see blood in your cough. You go to have it checked in the same day and the final diagnosis of the physician is that you have tuberculosis, or more popularly TB. Then you wonder, could this be because of all the nights you spent out, or even worse could it be because of such close contact with so many riders, where one of the riders was the seed to such a terrible illness. Still you have to get treated, you have to get cured, and the ample salary a government official gets is never enough.

Let’s put society under the microscope! Earlier there used to be gatherings at usual places. Booming businesses and amazing friends! Suddenly it’s not the same anymore. The social easiness that comes with the consumption of alcohol is just not there. You are spending time with your friends but still you feel like you are in a business interview, or in the first day of school. You are much more comfortable when you stay home and start to drink alone. The absence of company eventually makes your drinking capacity even higher, and you start to drink even more. There is a party in town; somebody’s somebody is getting married somebody else. All your friends are going to be together. Your compadres of crime! The group brainstorms and soon realizes that individually they cannot drink; because of the law, but if they reserve a taxi then they can all drink, as much as they want. On the night out they become more intoxicated than they have ever been.

Social gathering businesses collapse, domestic violence on the rise because of the lone drinker in the house.

Have the accident rates gone down? Drastically!!! I assure you. There is not a shadow of a doubt about that. Many of the lives have been saved because of this. But those are not the only ones I assure you. Where ten lives have been saved ninety have become miserable. If you have been one of the unfortunate ones who have been detained in the roadblocks, a shadow of hope appears when an option is presented to you. Do you want to go to the station tomorrow or to you want to settle this here? An option where the state doesn’t benefit but the individual enforcer has the chance to add a little extra to his holiday bonus.  Another unforeseen outcome of this drastic enforcement measure is the public transportation. You go out for a drink, but being a law abiding citizen you don’t take your car or bike. You find a taxi near the place of your hangout when you are leaving and you get in. but wait, the fare of the taxi is three times of what it should be. In this day and age could it be that people still take advantage of your condition??? Unbelievable!!! That is still a positive side of things, what if the taxi driver has evil intentions. A drunken person returning home alone from a social gathering has a higher chance of being mugged by the taxi driver, as the drunk is not able to defend himself or remember who his assailant was.

Where are the laws to monitor those changes? If an enforcer asks for a bribe, how are we supposed to report, same in the case of dishonest taxi.

Drunken driving is a crime which could have disastrous consequences. Having a drink is not the same as being drunk. To reach 0.08 in the breathalyzer you would have to drink 3 shots of whiskey.  But every night I am in fear when I use mouthwash(Yes most mouthwashes and hand sanitizers do contain alcohol) when I go out or when I have some other drinks like red bull or when you have some fancy dish in a party or restaurant. What if they show up on the breathalyzer? The fear is always there.

Drinking and driving is hazardous, not only to the driver but also to the other people using the road. However, there should be a limit set, which any individual is allowed to drink. A limit which determines that driver has taken a little alcohol but their skill and responsive skills have not hampered and thus they are allowed to drive. Although extreme measure have now been taken so that the general public will get used to the drink and drive policy. Eventually a leniency should be shown in the rule so that only the culprits are taken in for the punishment and majority of the mass do not have to suffer

But alcohol does make some things better watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEQfzRjYG-s&feature=youtu.be  cheers.