Despite initiatives, drunken driving cases on the rise

Despite several special drives, strict enforcement, counselling sessions, and suspension of driving licence, drunken driving violations have not decreased in the city. In 2017, around 20,811 cases were booked for drunken driving; some 9,468 cases have been booked this year up to April.

Traffic police filed 9,600 charge-sheets for traffic rule violations between January and April this year of which 9,468 cases were for drunken driving. Around 1,697 drivers have been jailed for driving with more than the permissible amount of alcohol and have paid a total penalty of `2.53 crore.

Road safety experts recommend that liquor shops, pubs and bars should close by 9 pm. Liquor shops are allowed to stay open till 11 pm against the earlier closure of 10 pm.

“Hyderabad traffic police is conducting the best enforcement for drunken driving but still there is a need to increase fines and change of timings of wine shops, bars and pubs. Pubs, bars and wine outlets timing should be cut from 11 pm to 9 pm. A study should be conducted on drunken driving as most of them are repeated offenders,” says K. Vinod Kumar, a road safety expert from Indian Federation of Road Safety (IFROS).

He says in Brazil, a month’s salary is docked for this offence. “People there are afraid of the penalties,” he adds.

He says when the new motor vehicles and safety bill which is still pending in the Rajya Sabha is passed, most of the traffic problems in our country will be resolved but there should be political will and public participation as well.

Drunken driving had come down some time back when police had resorted to sneaky techniques of locating themselves in new places each time. But soon the consistency with which they were placing themselves dropped and drunken driving increased.”

Anil Kumar, Additional Commissioner, Hyderabad Traffic police, said, “We have booked 9,468 chargesheets for drunken driving violations between January and April this year and 1,697 drunk drivers have been jailed. The remaining violators have been fined by courts depending upon the results of blood alcohol content (BAC) as shown by a breathalyser test.”

He claims that awareness campaigns and short films urging citizens to avoid drunken have had an effect but there’s still a long way to go.