Why doesn't Delhi fine its drunk women drivers?
In the last five years, no woman has been fined for driving intoxicated in Delhi. Not because women do not drink and drive, but because of lack of women constables in the traffic police force. Interestingly, as per the current law, if a woman is drunk and is driving, she cannot be pulled up by a male constable.
Current law: Male cops cannot pull up drunk women drivers
"When the pickets are placed around posh pubs we can clearly see that the women driving are drunk," said a traffic cop. However, they cannot "even ask them to roll their windows down, let alone issuing a challan," he added. Notably, the total strength of traffic constables stand around 2,000, of which only three are women and are posted in Central Delhi.
How can this be fixed?
Piyush Tiwari, founder of NGO SaveLIFE Foundation that focuses on road safety, says electronic enforcement can be used for those who break other traffic rules while human resources can check drunken drivers, like it's done in many countries. Another reason for fewer woman cops is their safety, as a senior cop explains that pickets for catching DUI offenders are usually set up post sundown.
'Women, by nature, tend to follow traffic rules'
Women fined for other traffic violations like talking on phone while driving, exceeding the speed limit or jumping red light are fewer, as women, by nature tend to follow traffic rules, says Joint commissioner of police (traffic) Garima Bhatnagar. "We also need to consider that there are fewer women drivers on the road," said Bhatnagar, rather defensively.
4 years record: 1.4 lakh challans issued to intoxicated drivers
Between 2013 and 2017, Delhi traffic cops issued 1.4 lakh challans to DUI offenders - 26,633 in 2013, 29,584 in 2014, 25,958 in 2015 and 28,006 in 2016. All the offenders who had to pay Rs. 1,000 as fine were men.
