Petrol pumps selling fuel to drunk drivers face ban in this country

Drunk driving is one of the major causes of road mishaps. The state of New Mexico in the US has come up with a new rule that will impose a ban on petrol pumps if they sell fuel to drunk drivers. With this, the state has become the second one in the US to ban selling fuel to intoxicated drivers.

Earlier Tennessee also imposed a similar ruling. The rule comes in line with the recent New Mexico Supreme Court mandate. The court cited that an accident in 2011 involved a drunk driver who purchased fuel from a petrol pump in New Mexico. The same vehicle was involved in another fatal crash moments later, killing the driver.

As the New Mexico Supreme Court has said, petrol is required to drive most of the vehicles today. Hence, providing petrol to an intoxicated driver is like providing car keys to an intoxicated driver.

Till date, there was no such rule in the state to prohibit selling fuels to intoxicated drivers. However, the new rule will bar the petrol pumps from doing so.

The New Mexico Supreme Court has also raised some questions as well. One of them is the consequences of the ruling that might affect non-fuel products, which enable driving while intoxicated. These include auto component stores, tyre stores, mechanics among others.

Drunk driving is not only a menace in the US but around the world. According to NHTSA, every 52 minutes a person is killed due to a preventable crash where one person behind the steering wheel is intoxicated.