Southern States
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Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram
Police to crack down on drunken driving
By Our Staff Reporter
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, DEC. 15. With a view to reducing the number of alcohol-related night-time road accidents in the Christmas-New Year season, the city police are all set to launch a special drive against drunken driving.
The City Police Commissioner, Mr. Rajan Singh, said the police would undertake checking of vehicles and motorbikes at night to discourage drunken driving which usually peaks during the New Year season.
Traffic officials said that at least a third of road accidents in the city occur at night. This when vehicular flow is down by a third compared to daytime. This means that the accident risk is nearly three times high during night compared to day.
Police officials aver that a common cause of night-time road accidents in the city is drunken driving. It was also pointed out that 90 per cent of accidents caused by drunken driving occurred at night.
Studies show that even a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .07 per cent more than doubles the risk of being involved in an accident. This was because alcohol slows down eye-movement of the driver. It also greatly reduces peripheral vision of the driver and slows down his reaction time. Traffic figures show that drivers between the age of 18 and 30 are involved in 40 per cent of alcohol-related accidents in the State though they constitute only under 20 per cent of the driving population.
Police officials said that most motorists have the notion that one-way regulations are not applicable after 8 p.m. when the traffic police are withdrawn from their posts. The Kerala Motor Vehicle Rules explicitly lays down that one-way regulations are round the clock unless and otherwise specified so.
Apart from one-way violations, another common cause of accidents at night, especially during early morning hours, is overspeeding. Traffic officials say the worst offenders in this category are two-wheeler owners and drivers of goods vehicles carrying perishable items like vegetables and fish.
However, traffic officials aver that, all other factors apart, the single largest reason for accidents at night was caused by hi-beams. Several of those involved in accidents which occurred at night have reported to the police of `temporary blindness' caused by the headlight beam of an oncoming vehicle.
Experts at the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) here feel that the screening of headlights initiated by the traffic police would not alone help reduce the risks of night-time driving.
Traffic management experts pointed out that traffic islands and medians which dot the main thoroughfares in the city turn into death traps for motorists at night. Given the reduced vision at night, motorists often recognise a traffic island, median or bump only when they come very near to it. Then, as in most night accident cases, there is little time left to effect evasive manoeuvres.
Many feel that proper lighting of all important and arterial roads in the city would help reduce the risk of accidents at night.
At least two per cent of accidents caused at night in the State are because the vehicle had only one of its headlights in working order, an official said. He feels that authorities should take greater care in insisting on small things like functional tail lamps in all vehicles and rear reflectors.
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