Rush, a physician who would go on to serve as the Surgeon General of America, was among the first medical practitioners to speak out on the physiological and psychological harms of liquor. In a far cry from stringent alcohol regulations in place in those tumultuous years in American history, new laws are much-much more lax. Regulations these days mostly deal with the legal age of drinking and driving under the influence of alcohol. The latter offense is usually established by measuring the blood alcohol content (BAC) of motor-vehicle drivers or by testing the level of drivers’ drunkenness on the degree of impairment of their motor abilities.
But few governments have resorted to the rather the ad hoc methods of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) in Kathmandu. Desperately short on breathalyzers, the instruments which measure BAC, it has apparently asked the traffic police deployed on Kathmandu roads to establish sobriety by sniffing at drivers’ breath. The cops claim to have made a significant dent on alcohol-related traffic accidents since the start of their anti-alcohol drive two months ago. (As of now, MTPD has taken action against 3,532 people.) But as the famous saw goes, ´where there´s will there´s way´.
To escape noisome traffic cops, the tipplers have taken to drinking (and driving) during the day as most traffic raids are carried out either in the evening or under the cover of night. Thus, although the overall business of the watering holes of Kathmandu has dwindled since the start of the drive, their day-time business is up. But if traffic police have it their way, this spurt will be temporary. Increasingly aware of the growing trend of people taking to the bottle during the day, it’s now mulling surprise day-time checks inside the Valley.
It’s true that some sort of anti-drunk driving initiative in Kathmandu was long overdue. Also, the proactive campaign is in sharp contrast to the corrupt and slow-on-the-uptake image of Nepal’s police force. Their claim of reduced accidents in the last two months, if true, is welcome reprieve for the city folks used to gory reports on road deaths. But this has not stopped some quarters of the population from criticizing the overzealous drive. Rightly too. Poking your nose into someone’s mouth is both unhygienic and unscientific.
Moreover, people of some faiths consume alcohol as a part of their tradition. It is surely not right to impose total inhibition on them: after all, a gulp of aila at a wedding party is unlikely to lead to a serious accident, much less so than sloshing on a bottle of Johnnie Walker. Day-time checks, if and when they start, will also further slow down the snarling Kathmandu traffic.
For the moment, the most obvious thing the cops could do is acquire more breathalyzers, which come anywhere between US $20-$120 a pop. Hundreds (if not more) will need to be bought to cover the three million Valley folks. It will be expensive but well worth the cost if can make a serious contribution to road safely.
Related story
Here’s why it takes two years to measure Mt. Everest
