Bengaluru: In a constant effort to keep the city roads safe and keeping drunken drivers at bay, the Bengaluru traffic police officials on Saturday booked as many as 853 cases of drunken driving.
In the last two months, the city has witnessed a rise in the number of such cases, which also includes booking cases against police officials, medical superintendents, ambulance drivers and school bus drivers, who were caught driving in an inebriated condition while on duty.
Though the city traffic police are not leaving any stone unturned to curb the menace, according to the statistics available at Bengaluru traffic police official site, BTP had booked as many as 1,538 cases of drink and drive between September 25 and October 1.
According to the statistics there has been a spurt in drunk-driving cases in the city this year as compared to last two years. While in July 2014, the authorities had booked 4,572, cases in July 2015 as many as 5,336 cases; the number shot up to 5,571 in July 2016. Similarly, for the month of August and September, BTP registered 3,831 and 5,608 cases in 2015, against 6,194 in August and 6,239 in September 2016.
“The police have stepped up the drive against drunk driving and have a considerably higher enforcement which has led to a rise in cases. Police will continue the special drives to send a strong message to the motorists who indulge in drunken driving,” said a police official.
While in the year 2014, the city had recorded a total number of 55,138 cases, in the corresponding year, BTP registered a total number of 62, 576 number of cases in 2015. This year the BTP officials have already booked 41, 538 cases by the end of September.
Bengaluru ranks third in road accidents in the country, with drunk-driving accounting for as much as 40 per cent cases. Most of the offenders are aged between 25 and 40 years, while as many as 20 people die every month in road accidents caused by drunk-driving.
