Chennai: High-end car owners were at the receiving end as city police came down hard on traffic violations involving drunk driving so far this year. As many as 6221 cases of drunk driving cases were registered against light vehicles as on May 28, of which close to 900 cases were against drivers of luxury sedans, an official release mentioned. In all, 22,914 cases of drunk driving were booked so far this year.
With intensified night patrol and vehicle checks, especially during weekends, we want to come down hard on offenders including high end cars and also ensure that accidents are brought down, a senior police official said. “We believe that drunk driving has an effect on road safety and results in accidents, which at times turns fatal, and so far our assessment has been right,” the official said. While there is no study which pinpoints to drunk driving leading to accidents, there has been a considerable reduction in the number of fatalities, the official says.
According to an official release, 27 fatal accidents have been averted so far this year due to these intensified checks. In 2012, 1400 people died in road accidents in Chennai, while a little more than 1200 fatalities were reported in 2013, according to the statistics provided by city traffic police.
