Better sober than never

IT IS 9-20 p.m. Suraj (name changed) bid goodbye to his Mom and little sister, as he dashed out in his new small car to a friend's beach house party.

11-00 p.m. Suraj and his friends had gulped down six rounds of vodka when they decided to head towards a night club by the beach, for the night.

11-35 p.m. Driving down East Coast Road, one of his friends wonders if Suraj can take the bend at 120 km/hour.

11-37 p.m. All that remains of the car is a wreck. Suraj's little sister never saw him after that.

One sharp turn, the car had gone off the road, toppled, killing Suraj and critically injuring his friends. Only one of the four inside the car got away with a few scratches. He was wearing a seatbelt.

Suraj and his friends are only a sample of the many accidents that have happened over the last few days, starting with the incident involving an tipsy actor who killed a constable earlier this month.

The common thread running through all the accidents: late nights out, partying, drink and driving. The night club culture does seem to have taken its toll on citizens. And early closure of night clubs as the Jessica Lal incident has revealed, is no solution.

``Those who do want to get drunk, will do so. If the nightclubs close, they would take to the roads. There will be many more bars doing brisk undercover business than before. That, is an even more dangerous proposition,'' a hotelier says.

Many however argue that it is the social responsibility of the night clubs concerned to ensure that the drunk don't drive home. ``There are `You Drink, We Drive' services abroad that contribute a great deal in preventing deaths and accidents due to drunken driving. Chennai night clubs could come out with similar services,'' a regular party-hopper suggests.

``Our bartenders have always helped those who are drunk get home. There have been so many times that we have put people in a taxi and sent them home,'' says a hotelier from a leading five-star hotel.

But the hoteliers feel that offering services such as `You Drink, We Drive' might give them a bad name. ``It would mean we whole- heartedly encourage them to get drunk. There is a difference between having a night club open for people to let their hair down and for people to get uncontrollably inebriated. Our hotel would not like to be known to encourage people hitting the bottle,'' says a bartender.

``Even we have our drink after a hard day's work. But we make sure we have made arrangements to get home safe,'' a hotelier says. The solution, they say, is that people should take care of themselves.

``Even if one is not under the influence, it is still a dangerous proposition to drive at night. You might get involved in an accident for no fault of yours. There is rash driving all around,'' says a youth.

Is there a solution for the partying kind to wake up in their bed and not in hospital? Stiffer police patrolling, pro-active support from the night club staff, well-lit roads especially on the bends on the highways and most importantly, self-control and self-regulation from the citizens driving at night.

By Sudhish Kamath

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Section  : Features
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