<B>By Deepa BHOOKHUN</B>

Don’t drink and drive say Government. Or we’ll take your away your driving permit on the spot.

It is debatable whether or not this measure is fair and constitutional. As some MPs have underlined in parliament, what happens to the principle of presumption of innocence guaranteed by the constitution? Before a court of law has declared a person guilty or innocent, as the case may be, of a misdemeanor, the police will have already taken steps to interfere with that sacrosanct principle. But that’s another matter, one that will hopefully be settled by a court of law.

What concerns me however is the rigid and sweeping approach taken by government on this issue. Don’t get me wrong; I do not have to be convinced that drunken people should not drive. The driver under the influence of alcohol is a danger not only to himself but to others as well and we all know that. But when you stop people from drinking and driving, you have to give the drinker another option.

So I will not be able to drive my car after having had two beers at a party. Fair enough. How does government propose I get home in that case? Taxi? I wouldn’t trust most taxi drivers as far as I could throw them- and that’s not far- so I think I’ll pass thanks.

Now if cab drivers do not inspire trust in their potential customers, why have they been issued with operating permits, I ask myself? Are they investigated, are they required to produce a certificate of morality- not that it will say much on the person but hey- when they apply for their permits? Do they authorities have a way of tracing them if ever they disappear with a customer? How regulated are they besides having been given a permit to operate as a result of an electoral favour? I’m sure you can guess what the answers are.

In any event, you will have noticed that the “regulated” taxi drivers all, without exception happily display their taxi meters in their cars. An incongruous sight considering that no taxi driver will ever turn the meter on and use it. What they will do on the other hand is ask exorbitant fares knowing full well that more often than not, you the customer will have no choice but to accept to pay.

You, the citizen of this country, who are just coming out of a nightclub after a good night out with your friends or just leaving the wedding of a family member where you thoroughly enjoyed the chilled champagne- all absolutely legal activities, will have to spend a small fortune just to get home. If you do get there that is.

Public Transport? Forget it. Buses stop running at ridiculously early hours and they are most certainly not user-friendly. So I put the question again to the minister for transport; how does he propose I get home after a social event where I have had one drink too many?

Not government’s problem? I’m afraid it is. It is way too easy to take hasty decisions- however good they may be- and not think about the consequences thereof. Not every consumer of alcohol has a chauffeur-driven car – as I’m sure our decision makers know- and they will need some form or other of transportation.

It is only when government has provided the option, when they have answered this question that people will stop drinking and driving. Threats will not do. Look at all the countries where people would not even dream of taking their cars when they are going out because it is so much easier not to.

So, don’t drink and drive? By all means. But how do I get home?