Youth blame Delhi Police for not thwarting drunken driving

New Delhi: Over 90 percent of city’s youth hold the Delhi Police responsible for the high number of drunken driving cases, accusing them of being corrupt and casual, a survey released here Wednesday said. Conducted by NGO Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD), “Alcohol and Youth” surveyed 5,000 students of Delhi University in 30 colleges between the ages of 17 and 20 years. The survey was conducted between Sep 15 and Oct 15. [caption id=“attachment_510006” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] “A total of 91 percent of the respondents said that there was no policing outside bars and pubs or in the university campus area where alcohol is consumed in cars, hostels, bars etc by students,” said the survey. “Police officers just say ‘paise do aur ghar jao’ (bribe us and go home),” added the survey quoting students. Further, none of the respondents were ever asked for any identification proof to verify their age by the police if caught driving drunk or by those selling alcohol. However, 89 percent of the students admitted that drunken driving was “a serious problem amongst youth” and 45.2 percent of them suggested better patrolling, checking and 44.3 advocated stiffer fines and penalties to bring down drunken driving cases. The survey further said that 81 percent boys and 60 percent girls have their first drink of alcohol before they turn 18 and spend around Rs.4,000 to 8,000 every month on alcohol. Over half of the respondents were unhappy with the legal age for consuming alcohol in Delhi which is 25 years as 54 percent of them said that the age should be brought down to 21 while 25.5 percent said that people should be allowed to drink once they turn 18. IANS