From 2011 till the end of December 2016, the city police have booked about 65,586 drink-driving cases and about 30% of them were booked against autorickshaw drivers.
While 270 drunk drivers were convicted during that period, the conviction has already crossed 103 in the first four months of this year. Of them, 35 were auto drivers.
According to the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) K. Mahendra Patrudu, this is a worrying factor as auto drivers are public carriers. People, including children, commute in autos and of the total cases booked against them about 40% of auto drivers were caught in intoxicated condition, beyond the permissible limits, during the day time.
Accidents
The auto drivers also head the list when it comes to accidents, including fatalities.
In 2014, the total number of accidents on road was recorded to be 1,249 in which 339 persons died and 1,321 injured. In 2015, the number of accidents was 1,286 with 372 fatalities and 1,335 injured. And in 2016, it rose to 1,416 cases with 352 deaths and 1,477 injured. In the current year, the number of cases had already crossed the 600 mark in the first four months and fatalities stood at 94.
Mr. Mahendra Patrudu told The Hindu that as per a survey conducted by the Traffic Police Department, of the total accidents in the last three years about 55% of the accidents involved two-wheelers and autorickshaws.
“While two-wheelers account for 41% of accidents, autorickshaws take a share of 14%. And that is a sizeable chunk. The autos were either directly involved in the accidents or were responsible for the cause of the accidents for their errant driving. As per the initial survey, of the total accidents involving auto-rickshaws, about 15% of the drivers have been found to be in drunken condition,” he said.
According to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP- Traffic) Kinjarapu Prabhakar, the department is focussing on curbing this menace.
“We have not only increased the vigil with alcometer at strategic points but also working to see that the punishment is little harsher to dissuade the auto drivers from drunken driving.
