India has some of the lightest penalties in the world when it comes to deaths due to drunk driving. Why is it so? @virtuallyshreya finds out.
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00:00What is the price for drunk driving?
00:11In India, seven people die due to drunk driving each day.
00:14But guess what?
00:15The maximum punishment for such deaths is usually imprisonment for two to five years.
00:20The Pune-Posha drunk driving case garnered much media attention.
00:24So has the Vadodara crash that killed one and injured seven in March of 2025.
00:29With eyewitnesses claiming that the accused looked intoxicated and swapped seats behind
00:34the wheel.
00:35But deaths by drunk driving in India are all too frequent.
00:38And these highlighted cases merely serve as a harsh reminder.
00:41Over 12,000 people were booked under drunk driving just in the first half of 2024 itself.
00:47Despite the overwhelming data, the penalty for a death caused by drunk driving is much
00:52lesser than that for killing a person in Indian law.
00:55For many years under the Indian Penal Code, causing a death when you had alcohol exceeding
01:00the permissible limit in your blood was punishable by up to two years in prison or a fine or
01:05both.
01:06But as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita BNS replaced the IPC in 2024, the penalty for causing a
01:12death by drunk driving has been increased to a mandatory imprisonment of five years.
01:17More so, if drivers do not report the killing under the influence of alcohol to the authorities,
01:22it can result in imprisonment up to 10 years.
01:25Causing a grievous injury while drunk driving comes with an imprisonment of three years
01:28in India.
01:29It is noteworthy that engaging in harmful behavior and non-grievous injuries in most
01:34cases merely attracts a fine.
01:36So why is it that deaths that happens due to drunk driving attracts a much lighter penalty
01:40than murder?
01:41The reason for the lower punishment boils down to the intent of the accused.
01:45Under both the IPC and the BNS, murder can attract a death penalty, while homicide not
01:50amounting to murder is punishable by imprisonment.
01:53In cases of murder, there is a high degree of criminal intent while drunken driving is
01:57often a result of negligence rather than a deliberate criminal intention.
02:01This missing intent contributes to a lighter punishment for drunk driving and is aimed
02:05at reforming the offender.
02:07Meanwhile, the highest form of punishment by Indian law in murder cases is set to act
02:12as a social detriment.
02:14But despite the debate on intent, penalties for offenses resulting from drunk driving
02:18in India are much liberal compared to most countries.
02:21In Australia, for instance, causing a death by drunk driving leads to imprisonment for
02:2520 years.
02:26In most other parts of the world, it is between 10 to 15 years.
02:30Most social studies state that most people in India have admitted to driving drunk at
02:34least once in their life.
02:36India also contributes to 6% of the world's road accidents as per the WHO.
02:40Considering this, do you think we need stricter laws to make public safety more important?
02:44What are your thoughts?
02:45Let us know in the comments below.
02:48Thanks for watching.
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