Two people are dead. Eight more injured. All because a man decided to get behind the wheel drunk and drive through a crowded Jaipur street like he was untouchable.
Usman — the driver — wasn’t just drunk. He was reportedly speeding through Nahargarh at 80 km/h, ramming into people, bikes, anything in his way. He didn’t stop. He didn’t care. A man on a scooter had to physically grab his steering wheel to bring the car to a halt. Usman ran. He was caught. But what now?
We already know the pattern. Public outrage. Clicks. Headlines. Then, nothing.
This isn’t new. We’ve seen the same horror in the Pune Porsche crash. In elite hit-and-run cases that disappear under political weight. In endless nameless incidents where the victims are poor and the accused are powerful. Drunk driving is killing people — and our system treats it like a traffic violation.
Let’s be honest. Driving drunk is not a mistake. It’s a violent, conscious decision. The choice to drink, drive, and endanger lives is deliberate — not a “tragic error.”
And yet, the consequences in India? Weak. Delayed. Sometimes, none at all. Rich drivers lawyer up. Others vanish. Cases drag for years, if they’re even taken seriously. Meanwhile, victims’ families are left with funerals and bills — and no justice.
This country needs a full reset on how it treats drunk driving. That means tougher laws, no bail loopholes, instant license cancellation, real jail time, and public tracking of offenders. It means tech in vehicles that stops drunk drivers from even starting the car. And it means we, as a society, stop normalizing it with silence and excuses.
Because right now, the message is clear: if you’re drunk behind the wheel in India, chances are — you’ll get away with it.
And that should scare every single one of us.
