Drunk driver puts lives of 58 at risk

About 50 passengers travelling in a Bharat Travels bus to Bhadrachalam had a terrifying experience when their driver — heavily drunk, as it turned out — drove over a road divider and continued to speed ahead on the highway to Vijayawada.

Hayatnagar police and transport officials in a joint operation intercepted the bus, belonging to Bharat Travels, on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway.

Police subjected the driver, Nirmala Yadagiri, to a breathalyser test and found his blood alcohol content at 474 mg decilitre, which is almost 16 times higher than the permissible level.. All the passengers escaped unhurt when the bus hit the divider.

According to the police, the bus (AP 28 TY 6599) was heading to Bhadrachalam from the city.

On the route, Hayathnagar police and transport officials from Ibrahimpatnam were conducting checks on private buses in Pedda Amberpet.

Yadagiri, who was driving the bus at high speed, did not notice that a line of buses had stopped for the checks.

He overtook all the buses, hit the divider and continued at the same speed, gravely imperilling the safety of passengers.

Police teams immediately gave a chase and intercepted the bus near the ORR underpass in Pedda Amberpet.

“In the breath analyser test, his BAC was measured at 474 mg dl which is very high. He was so inebriated that he did not notice the vehicle checks or even when the bus hit the divider,” Hayathnagar inspector J. Narender Goud said.

Yadagiri was booked under Sections 185 (driving under the effect of alcohol) and 184 (rash driving) of the Motor Vehicles Act and detained for questioning. Police also seized the bus. The passengers were shifted to another bus and taken to Bhadrachalam.