Checks on drunken driving resume after almost 2 years

Police had stopped conducting breathalyser tests after a spurt in COVID-19 cases

Traffic police teams conducting breathalyser tests on motorists in the city on Sunday.

Drivers will again be stopped at random and asked to take breath alcohol tests across the city, with the traffic police resuming drunken driving checks after a gap of 20 months.

For the past five days, police teams have been conducting enforcement drives at various places in the city, flagging down drivers and asking them to blow air into a ‘breathalyser’ which determines the level of alcohol in one’s blood. The tests were stopped in March 2020 after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to avoid the risk of transmission of the virus.

While the COVID-19 scare is yet to fully subside, traffic police officials said they were forced to resume breathalyser tests in order to crack down on the rising menace of drunken driving. “Taking advantage of the suspension of breathalyser tests, many motorists in the city began driving after downing one too many pegs. There were several accidents reported in the city limits due to drunken driving,” a police official said.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ch. Adinarayana said that several areas like Kancharapalem and PM Palem were witnessing accidents due to drunken driving, when motorists, under the influence of alcohol, were ramming into road dividers/medians, electric poles or trees.

“In November alone, the city reported four deaths due to road accidents which occurred as a result of driving under the influence of alcohol. Last month, two youth had died in a road accident at PM Palem, while they were returning home in an inebriated condition,” he said, appealing to motorists not to indulge in drunken driving which is an offence punishable by imprisonment of up to six months and a fine of ₹10,000.

Mr. Adinarayana said that the police teams are taking all precautions such as wearing face masks and gloves and using hand sanitisers while conducting the breathalyser tests. “We do not check each and every vehicle on the road. We only check those which we find are being driven in a suspicious manner. Drunken driving checks are being resumed in several other cities,” he added.

183 cases booked

Traffic police teams have been conducting checks at various places from November 30. From November 30 to December 4, the police teams have booked 183 drunken driving cases.