Ahead of year-end festivities, police increase vigil against drink driving
NEW DELHI: The year-end festive season is here and so is the time when cases of drink driving are at its peak in the capital.
The city’s traffic police have started a crackdown on inebriated drivers on roads by increasing check posts near bars and clubs.
Senior traffic officials said that at present over 300 pickets are set up across the national capital where traffic officials with alcometers are stopping and testing the alcohol levels of drivers.
In the coming days, officials said, the number of check points will be increased.
At present police barricades are routinely set up near pubs around Connaught Place, Vasant Kunj, Vasant Vihar, Defence Colony, Khan Market, Rajouri Garden, Mandi House, Sri Aurobindo Marg, August Kranti Marg and the Delhi-gurugram road.
“The idea behind these drives is to ensure that no accidents happen in the city caused by inebriated drivers. We are increasing our presence also because pickets slow down traffic movement and this reduces the risk of rash driving and accidents,” said joint commissioner of police (traffic) Alok Kumar.
Kumar said along with action against offenders, the traffic police are also simultaneously conducting awareness cam- paigns to prevent drink driving cases.
“We have tied up with radio channels and NGOS get the message across to as many people as possible. We all need to join hands to make Delhi safe during this festive season,” he added.
Despite several campaigns initiated by the traffic department through the year, the city has seen an upward trend in drink driving cases.
This year itself, over 40,000 people have been caught driving in an inebriated condition, according to official records by the traffic police.
This showed a 27% increase over such cases recorded last year, when around 26,000 people were caught.
The most recent case of the repercussions of drink driving was seen last month when a 38-year-old woman was killed and her teenage daughter was severely injured when a car, driven by a 22-year-old woman who was heavily drunk, rammed into their vehicle.
Arundhati Raj, a lawyer who has been fighting cases for the families of the victims of drink driving, said that an effective checking mechanism needs to be adopted by the police agencies to catch violators.
“If you see these check points, cops barely have proper alcometers or disposable air pipes. They still rely on speaking to drivers close to their faces to assess if they are drunk,” Raj said.