Sober last night after a drunken drive through 2009

More than 12,000 Delhiites were prosecuted in 2009 for driving in a drunken state, a 40 per cent increase compared to 2008, police said.

More than 12,000 Delhiites were prosecuted in 2009 for driving in a drunken state, a 40 per cent increase compared to 2008, police said.

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On New Year’s eve, however, there was a 30 per cent decrease in the incidents of drunken driving, compared to 2008. Delhi Traffic Police said that on new year’s eve only 189 people were prosecuted for driving under the influence of alcohol, in a special drive.

Of them, 125 were from South Delhi. In 2008, 274 people had been prosecuted for drunken driving on new year’s eve.

“People were well behaved this time. No untoward incidents were reported and fewer people were prosecuted. They were cautious enough,” said SN Srivastava, joint commissioner of police (traffic).

During special drives launched during night hours in 2009, police said, 799 people were prosecuted for driving drunk. Policemen, equipped with alcometers (breath analysers), were out in large numbers across the city to nab revelers driving on a ‘high’.

They were seen stopping drivers who seemed drunk and making them breathe into the equipment.

Many policemen was deployed near pubs, malls, hotels, clubs, the Ridge areas and other locations across the city to check instances of drunken driving.

“As many as 12,756 people were arrested for driving drunk on the city’s roads in 2009, while in 2008 7,579 were prosecuted. This meant there was a 40 per cent increase in cases of drink driving,” said a senior police officer.

Anybody found driving or attempting to drive a vehicle with an alcohol level above 30 mg per 100 ml of blood faces imprisonment up to six months or a Rs 2,000 fine, or both.

If the person commits the same offence again, he may end up getting a jail term of up to two years or a fine of Rs 3,000, or both.