Drunken drivers, you shall not turn impersonators

July 22, 2013 12:44 am | Updated November 16, 2021 08:21 pm IST - HYDERABAD:

Drunk drivers beware!

In a bid to prevent impersonation in court, police will keep photographic evidence of those caught for the offence, and verify the same when the accused attends the hearing.

Police will video record and take photographs of motorists caught with high levels of Blood Alcohol Content (BAC).

Verification

The earlier practice involved motorists being merely asked to produce photo identity cards before their counselling sessions.

Now, their identity will be ‘verified’ with the photo taken during the enforcement drive to avoid impersonation, Drunk Driving Coordinator, Inspector M. Srinivasulu said.

“There were some apprehensions that persons involved in drunk driving may be using others to stand in for them at courts. To reduce this possibility, we will now verify their identity,” Mr. Srinivasulu said.

While the practice of taking photos during enforcement drives was prevalent earlier, these will now be utilised for identity verification, he added.

More in store

But that is not all; police are also contemplating on keeping a record of all those who underwent jail terms for drunk driving.

“The work on creating a database of motorists caught for drunk driving is in progress. Once commissioned, it will become easier to keep track of those motorists caught more than once, and also those who are caught with heavy BAC,” a senior police official said.

The city police caught 257 motorists for driving in inebriated conditions over the last weekend, of which 35 were sentenced to imprisonment by a local court.

Five of them were awarded five-day jail terms, 27 with three-day terms and three others sentenced to a single day in jail.

This year alone, a total of 7,177 motorists have booked under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act and 630 of them have been awarded jail terms.

This copy has been corrected for editing error.

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