What is termed as drunken driving?
Traffic police rules term drunken driving as driving a vehicle or riding a bike under the influence of intoxicating substances. Consuming alcohol above the prescribed limit and driving will lead to RTO fines and in some cases imprisonment.
What if I consume minimal alcohol and choose to drive?
The minimum alcohol content limit varies from country to country. In India, this Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) limit is extremely strict. The allowed BAC in India is 0.03% per 100ml of blood. If you are caught with more BAC while driving a vehicle, you will be penalized accordingly.
It is difficult to come up with this value without any device. Thus, if you feel that you will be in the safe zone if you wait for just a while after consuming alcohol, and then you might be wrong. The time taken by the human body to process alcohol varies as per the alcohol consumed.
What is a breathalyzer?
A breathalyzer is a device that is used to analyze a person’s breath sample and determine the blood alcohol content in the person. Traffic police officials are often seen with this device. If asked by the traffic police, you just need to cooperate with them and give them your breath sample.
What is the penalty for drinking and driving?
If you are found guilty of drinking and driving, you will have to shell out Rs. 3000 as penalty. You can also be jailed for two years. If you have injured a person or a person has died as a consequence of your drunk driving, you will have to face legal charges accordingly. Repeated cases can lead to severe punishments.
What is the normal process in case of drunk driving?
Usually, Mumbai traffic police officials conduct routine checks to mitigate drunk driving. They have certain hotspots where they install barricades and conduct a check. Such barricades can come up on random locations as well. If you are stopped by a traffic police official, park your car at the side and coordinate with the police officer. The officer might ask you some generic questions, answer them honestly.
If the police official suspects a drunk driving case, you are required to use the breathalyzer. If the BAC is above the limit, you will be taken to the nearest police station for further processing. Such a case can be settled by paying a penalty. However, punishment is case specific and cannot be generalized. This process gets complicated if you have harmed anyone while driving drunk. The case might turn into a criminal offense and the punishment might get more stringent.
What about my vehicle insurance policy?
Your vehicle insurance policy won’t be able to cover you from risks if you are drinking and driving. No insurance company can help you in such cases.
Avoid Drinking & Driving
The only way to ensure that you do not face any consequences of drunk driving is to not drink and drive. Rules and regulations are drafted for everyone’s safety, please follow them and avoid drinking and driving at all times.
