The Delhi Transport Department has ordered the seizure of over a hundred driving licences of persons who have repeatedly been prosecuted for drunk driving by the Traffic Police over the last year. More than half of them are two-wheeler riders, but all have been prosecuted for drunk driving on at least two consecutive occasions.
According to sources, the Traffic Police had intimated the Transport Department about the involvement of 129 drivers in more than one instance of prosecution for driving under the influence of alcohol in mid-August, in addition to recommending the cancellation of their licenses as deterrent.
The Department followed up on the Traffic Police’s intimation by issuing a public notice on August 30 calling explanations from the said drivers for their repeated failure to adhere to the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act and posing danger to fellow commuters.
When the latter failed to submit their respective replies or their replies were found to be unsatisfactory, the Department ordered suspension of their licences for one year and directed them to deposit their licenses at the transport authority office concerned at the earliest.
“The mere act of these drivers, of driving under the influence of alcohol, endangers safety of public on the roads of Delhi. This habitual tendency of drunken driving on the part of licence holders may lead to traffic accidents in future, endangering their own lives and that of other road users,” the Department said in its order.
Traffic Police sources said over half of the accused drivers or nearly 75 of them are two-wheeler riders, while nearly 54 of the repeat offenders are four-wheeler drivers. On whether the statistics pertained to a seeming shift in the pattern of drunken driving in the Capital, the Traffic Police attributed more prosecution of two-wheeler riders to dedicated drives against them.
“It is relatively less harmful to the circulation pattern of traffic on Delhi streets to stop and prosecute two-wheeler riders compared to cars. While that does not mean that we are allowing four wheelers a free run, initial prosecution seems to be working as a deterrent for car users,” said an officer.
