Everybody I know who has been going out these past days ? and they will hate me for writing this ? have drunk and driven. Does this shock you? I am sure it doesn?t. Unless you?re a hypocrite, of course.

In any event, it does not shock me in the slightest.

How else would people get around if they don?t drive?

Before all the self-righteous people reading this get on their high horses, let me reassure them ? I am certainly not saying drinking and driving is a sensible thing to do; Nobody in their right mind will dispute the fact that it is dangerous and it endangers the lives of the people driving, their passengers as well as other road users.

So now that this is an established fact, what are we going to do about it? More to the point, what are the authorities going to do about it? Because people are not showing any signs that they have been swayed by Bob or by the ?good friend? argument.

This is not news to the authorities that know very well that this the reason they are not likely to win the war on drink driving.

The police are so acutely aware of this that they don?t even try to pretend otherwise. But of course they have to make some kind of a show to keep up appearances.

So they subject us to a display of authority every evening between 6pm and 11pm. During those hours, you will see the men in blue everywhere trying to catch drunks behind their wheels. Except that they don?t catch many.

But then again, they wouldn?t, would they? Because when the people who have been drinking heavily get in their cars to go home, it is in the wee hours of the morning and the streets are bereft of policemen.

Take a wild guess why that is.

I won?t insult the police by thinking that they honestly believe that the peak hours are between 6 and 11 at night.

I think the truth might be closer to the fact that they turn a blind eye on purpose because they know people don?t have a choice. That people will not stop drinking and driving as long as there aren?t other reasonable alternative modes of transport.

This failure to ensure that the law regarding drink driving is respected and enforced is a measure of the incompetence of successive governments in the land transport department. No alternative means of public transport have been found. Taxis are not regulated and operate as per the whims and caprices of taxi drivers; the only rule they obey has ?rip off? for heading. Night transport is Greek to those people who expect two million people to come to Mauritius on holiday every year.

So spare us the patronising campaigns about what good friends need to allow or not allow their friends to do.

Let?s talk instead about what responsible and visionary governments should do. And what they don?t do.