Tamil Nadu - Chennai

1,225 licences cancelled for drunken driving

CHENNAI: Planning to drive after a drink at your favourite bar?

Watch out. From January to July this year, 1225 persons lost their driving licences because they thought they could get away driving under the influence of alcohol. Another 4,084 had their licences suspended for various periods of time.

“The Chief Minister is very particular that we reduce road accidents. We are working on many plans… ,” Transport Minister K.N. Nehru told The Hindu after he chaired a meeting of the State Road Safety Council.

The Minister pointed to last year’s statistics to prove that the department, in coordination with the police, was taking serious steps to curtail drunken driving. Last year 5,226 persons lost their licences for the offence, while 7,741 had their licences suspended.

At the meeting, the third after the Council was formed and which was attended by all members, Chief Secretary K.S. Sripathi wanted checks on drunken driving in suburbs and rural areas. “We debated for a while how to go about implementing this,” Mr. Nehru said. “Initially there was a suggestion that police patrols in the area be used. But this could not be implemented because of practical problems,” he said. The Council decided that breathalysers be positioned at toll plazas to control drunken driving on highways and in rural areas.

Mr. Nehru clarified that there would be no harassment of drivers. “We are seeing this as a safety measure. If there is suspicion that a driver has consumed alcohol, he will be asked to disembark from the vehicle and spend a few hours at the toll plaza. The vehicle will also be detained. For now, we will let the driver go after a severe warning and after entering his details into the computer,” he said. If the driver is incoherent or if there is suspicion of the vehicle being involved in an accident, the driver will end up at the nearest police station.

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