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Accidents caused by drunken driving on the rise

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE JULY 4. Road accidents caused by driving while under the influence of liquor are on the increase in Mangalore. In June, 40 cases of drunk driving were booked in various police stations in Mangalore.

More accidents were reported from Kadri and Kankanady covering a considerable distance of N.H. No. 17 and N.H. No. 48 that pass through Mangalore city. The cases of accidents due to drunk driving are also on the increase in Pandeshwar, Urva, Ashoknagar, Barke, and Panambur.

Mangalore city has taken in its stride the increase in the number of liquor shops, bars, and country liquor shops. The smallest village will not be complete without a couple of these establishments. Most of them are located less than a stone's throw away from highways and main roads.

The problem becomes serious during the weekends, the Superintendent of Police, Seemanth Kumar Singh, said. The Police Department was concerned for public safety as innocent people were being mowed down for no fault of theirs by tipsy drivers, he said.

He had instructed his force to book cases against drunk driving without fear or favour. He, however, agreed that it was not possible for the police to book each errant driver, but they had been trained to spot such drivers. Though the district police have a couple of breathalysers, they are not in working order.

Mr. Singh said the department would be going in for a new set of breathalysers and also hold regular awareness campaigns against drunk driving. He said his men had been instructed to book drunk driving cases on a day-to-day basis. A regular drive against drunk driving was also not ruled out, Mr. Singh said. But the police are helpless about the conditions of driving in Mangalore and on the highways that pass through Dakshina Kannada.

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