Launched with much fanfare in 2007, the traffic police’s drive to crack down on drink driving has not curbed the menace.
People still drink and drive, undeterred by the fact that they could not only have to pay a fine but also lose their licences or spend a night behind bars.
Till Monday, 33,781 people have been arrested since the anti-drink driving campaign started on June 20, 2007. Although the number of arrests for drinking and driving has not reduced, the police have noticed a shift in the pattern.
The number of people driving two-wheelers in an inebriated state has increased and there are more offenders in the suburbs than South Mumbai.
On March 30, the traffic police had arrested 191 people under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Of these, 103 were jailed.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sanjay Barve said of those arrested, over 80 per cent were driving two-wheelers.
“If we carry out a drive for four hours in South Mumbai we arrest only four or five drivers. But in the suburbs in those four hours, we arrest more than 20 bikers,” he added.
“We have also changed our strategies. We deploy more breath analyser machines and conduct drives at more spots in the suburbs than in South Mumbai.” Barve said South Mumbaiites have become cautious and either hail a taxi or designate a friend, who would not drink, to drive.
{{/usCountry}}“We have also changed our strategies. We deploy more breath analyser machines and conduct drives at more spots in the suburbs than in South Mumbai.” Barve said South Mumbaiites have become cautious and either hail a taxi or designate a friend, who would not drink, to drive.
{{/usCountry}}“In the suburbs, motorists believed that there are fewer drives,” Barve said. “But now we have intensified the drives in suburbs, especially in bylanes, and not just the main roads and highways.”