BENGALURU: New Year’s Eve may have seen a drastic increase in drunken driving cases, but according to the city police, there were many party-goers who chose the responsible route and came with drivers, to avoid driving in an inebriated state.
“We booked 398 people for drunken driving on Wednesday night,” said Girish S, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), West. “Last year, we booked just 15-20 cases. But this year, we were very strict and set up more check points across the city.”
But many people opted for to have drivers and most of them behaved very responsibly, the DCP said.
The city traffic police had taken extra measures to ensure safety this time, following the bomb blast on Church Street on Sunday last. Seventeen people were booked for performing wheelies, while 120 were booked for riding triples.
Cab services saw good business with TaxiForSure seeing a 10-fold increase in bookings. “On an average, we get 8,000 to 9,000 bookings in 24 hours. The demand for cabs went up 10 times (yesterday),” said a company executive.
Drunk Rider Rams Auto, 1 Dead
A 55-year-old man died on Wednesday night when a drunk biker collided with an autorickshaw. Nishanath (25) and Jagannath Rao (55) were on their way home from a relative’s house when their bike collided with an autorickshaw near Nagarbhavi Circle. Jagannath, who was riding pillion, died on the spot.
According to the Kamakshipalya police, Nishanath is employed with a private firm while Jagannath was a railway employee in Ballari. The impact of the collision was such that Jagannath was thrown a few feet into the air before he crashed to the ground, sustaining severe injuries. Nishanath too sustained injuries. They were rushed to a hospital nearby, but Jagannath succumbed.