With the introduction of the new Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019, traffic police officials across the country are ensuring that motorists follow the rules. While offenders are being fined heavily, what often tops the list of offences is drunk-driving. And to confirm the level of alcohol consumed by the driver, a breath analyser is used. But the device has the risk of transmitting germs.
When this was pointed out to 22-year-old CM Basil, an engineering graduate from Madurai, he decided to come up with a much simpler solution.
Basil’s father, Chinakaruthapandi, a traffic SI with City Police, explained to him that there are two ways of testing if a driver is drunk. “Often, police officers ask drivers to blow in their faces to smell and detect alcohol. But, that doesn’t tell you the alcohol content and it cannot be used as evidence in court. The other method is to use the breath analyser which has a tube-like structure. A driver is asked to blow into it and the device prints out a receipt which has details including percentage of alcohol consumption. But, since the device is used on so many people, there are high chances of it carrying germs,” explains Basil.
Eager and enthusiastic to contribute to the law and order system, Basil put his ideas into action. With meticulous attention and detailed understanding, Basil created Alcohol Detector 185 (AD 185) — an innovation that the police forces across the country will only thank Basil for. Launched last week, Basil says, “This device has alcohol sensor and does not have a tube. If people blow in front of the sensor, and they have consumed alcohol, it will beep and LED lights will start blinking, which was launched last week. The number ‘185’ which is part of the name of the device denotes the section 185 of The Motor Vehicles Act that deals with people driving vehicles under the influence of alcohol (or drugs). This model runs on battery. While a breath analyser costs more than Rs 30,000, this device costs Rs 1,000.
Basil completed his degree in May, and soon after, he began working on this project on his own. While he has presented it to the Police Department, several private companies have also approached him and discussions are on.
Basil finds inspiration from the late former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam and his works. Basil has participated in various events by Innovation in Science Pursuit For Inspired Research and bagged awards. More power to his breed!