Drink driving cases on the rise in Delhi, say police

At least 33,000 people were caught driving in an inebriated state on Delhi’s roads this year, around 27% higher than last year, data from Delhi traffic police shows.

The figures show an upward trend of drink driving cases in the last few years.

In 2017, a total of 26,008 people were fined, while the year before it was 23,393.

This year, till November 8, a total of 33,033 people were fined for drink driving by the traffic police in Delhi.

Senior traffic officials said the rampant cases of driving under the influence of alcohol have led them to organise regular drives to catch violators.

Since violations generally spike during the festival season, special drives are conducted during these months, senior traffic police officials said.

This year too, the drive was intensified between Dussehra and Diwali.

The figures show that in the 20-day period between October 19 and November 7 this year, over 2,143 people were prosecuted for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Alok Kumar said an analysis of drink driving cases over the last few years shows that most incidents are reported either late at night or during the early hours of the morning – between 1am and 4am.

“At night, around most popular markets with pubs and nightclubs we have set up pickets to check for cases of drink driving. We take such offences very seriously, by drinking before getting behind the wheel you are not just risking your own life but are also endangering the lives of those around us,” said Kumar.

In 2015, the Delhi traffic police drew up a map based on the areas in the city most prone to the cases of driving under the influence.

Hauz Khas, Connaught Place, Rajouri Garden and Nehru Place were found to have recorded the most number of such cases.

The survey also showed that out of all the violators who were caught during the drives, at least 40% were people below the age of 30.

“When you are young you think you can handle drinking and driving together. But whatever your age, alcohol dulls your reflexes and increases the possibility of getting into a fatal accident,” Kumar said.