If the driver of your car is drunk and has caused a fatal accident, the law says you can be booked with the same charges as the driver as well as an extra charge: Section 109 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with abetting a crime. The Chennai Traffic Police say that the passenger is abetting the crime even if he is not directly committing it. While advocates specialising in road accidents say that this is not fair as the passenger was not the one behind the wheel, in the latest incident involving national racing champion Vikas Anand and his friend T Charankumar, both have been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Ideally, the passenger should be let off with a warning - at best file case of abetment, say lawyers. "What if the driver of a call taxi was drunk and you were a passenger?," asked another advocate at the Madras high court V S Suresh. "The police should thoroughly investigate the circumstances and file the charge-sheet accordingly," he added.