Surge in drink driving cases in Mumbai on NYE

The city saw a surge in cases of drink driving on the New Year’s Eve, with 778 people being fined, compared to 433 the previous year. Of the 778 penalised, 578 were

The city saw a surge in cases of drink driving on the New Year’s Eve, with 778 people being fined, compared to 433 the previous year. Of the 778 penalised, 578 were bikers, while 200 were motorists. More than 3,000 traffic policemen were on patrolling duty and 5,338 motorists and bikers were subjected to breath analyser test from 10pm on Tuesday till 6am on Wednesday.

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Madhukar Pandey, joint commissioner of police (traffic), said, “A total of 1,100 people were penalised for violating traffic rules. While 601 were fined for jumping signals, 241 for speeding and in 258 cases, three people were riding on a case.” Of the 778, 58, including 50 bikers, were caught from Dahisar, 34 bikers were caught from Sahar, 19 motorists were apprehended from Vikhroli and 35 motorists and 29 bikers were caught from Mulund.

Officers said the number of cases in the western, eastern and northern suburbs was more because of the high number of pubs and bars there. In the last week of December, the joint commissioner of traffic police had issued a notification to traffic police personnel to keep cases of drink driving and speeding in check.

Officials said different squads were positioned at various places and their position was switched every one hour making it difficult for riders to escape. This is how many were caught, but there were fewer accidents. “A majority of those caught were aged 20-35,” said Pandey.

“We have sent the list of offenders to the RTOs to begin the process of suspending their licences for six months,” said an officer.

385 caught for drink driving in Navi Mumbai on NYE

A total of 385 drivers were caught drink driving in the city on Tuesday, New Year’s Eve. According to data released by the Navi Mumbai traffic police chief’s office, this was a marginal increase from 2018, when 353 drivers were caught for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Of the 385, the traffic police have registered cases against 340 drivers. The remaining offending drivers were caught by the city police.

The police said Kalamboli recorded the most number of cases (41), followed by APMC in Vashi (38). Uran reported only seven cases, while only five drivers were caught for drink driving in Nhava Sheva

1,673 cases in Thane

The city police registered 1,673 cases of drink driving on New Year’s Eve, a dip from 2,000 cases recorded in 2018. The police attributed the drop to strict vigilance over the past 10 days.

In 2017, 1,327 cases were recorded. “In the past week, the traffic police cracked down on more than 700 people driving under the influence of alcohol so that on the New Year’s Eve people would be alert. Different squads were posted at various places. They would alternate every hour, making it difficult for riders to escape,” said Amit Kale, deputy commissioner of police, traffic, Thane.

Several check nakas were set up in the city at Ghodbunder, Majiwada,Kapurbavdi, Mulund, Mumbra, Shilphata, etc.