Spirited vigil against drunk driving

After a spate of accidents, traffic police have been keeping a late-night watch

Drivers are subject to a breath analyser test and if they fail, their vehicles are seized.— Photo: M. Karunakaran

Amid the enhanced security cover in place in the city in the wake of demonetisation and the resultant clamour for cash, the traffic police are also stepping on the gas in their fight against drunk driving.

The police are booking around 100 cases of drunk driving every day during weekends, with the highest number of cases recorded on October 17, when 174 cases were booked.

The traffic police said the city was witnessing 20 to 25 accidents on an average every day with at least two to three persons dying.

As per available statistics, 62,700 cases of drunk driving were booked in 2013 and 55,300 in 2014. The figure dipped to 45,100 in 2015.

As of a month ago, the number of cases of drunk driving had touched 30,000.

As part of the drive, police personnel are stationed at key junctions and stretches in the city at night.

They stop most vehicles, including two-wheelers and high-end luxury cars, and ask the drivers to blow into the breath-analysers.

If the result shows an alcohol content of over 30 mg per 100 ml of blood, the vehicle is seized and the motorist is not allowed to drive further.

The original documents of the driver are also seized. The vehicle is handed back to the owner later while the latter has to pay a fine in court to collect the original documents.

“We began this drive after a spate of accidents in the city, some of which caused deaths. We are not sparing drivers of high-end cars or any other vehicles and have also instructed our personnel to take stern action against those who drive under the influence of alcohol,” said a senior police officer.

The traffic personnel are deployed in significant numbers on arterial roads between 10 p.m. and midnight and once again between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.

Discernible rise

An inspector of police said there was a discernible rise in the number of accidents due to drunk driving after 2 a.m. “We were asked by senior officers to be more vigilant and thoroughly check high-end cars. Sometimes, the people who travel in such cars drive very fast and do not stop. On other occasions, they are not cooperative and keep asking rude and unnecessary questions about our enforcement activities,” he added.

If the breath analyser shows alcohol content over 30 mg per 100 ml of blood, the vehicle is seized