The police drive against drunken driving in the Twin Cities, launched in November 2,011, has yielded good results. Instilling fear in the minds of the drunken drivers - with as many as 17,874 cases booked against those caught high on booze -- the drive has helped bring down the number of accidents.
According to the statistics provided by the Hyderabad traffic police, the number of road accidents has come down from 2,651 in 2011 to 1,006 till May 2013. In 2012, it was 2,577. Traffic officials believe that the numbers are set to decline further this year.
“There is definitely a decrease in the number of cases of drunken driving as people are now aware and wary of the heavy patrolling at night in the Twin Cities,” said PVS Ramakrishna, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic). He added that henceforth the traffic police officials would change the night checking points on the weekends.
Further, the statistics also show that out of the 17,874 cases, majority of the drunk drivers, i.e 8,599, are in the age group of 21- 30, while 5,967 are in the age group of 31-40. And out of the total number of cases booked, most of those are against private employees (5,672 cases), followed by those against blue collar employees (4,161cases).
The number of cases booked against drivers also has increased this year till May when compared to 2012.
While 4,272 drunk drivers were booked between Jan and May 2012, this year 5,384 persons were caught during the same period. Of the total 17,874 cases booked since the launch of the drive, 12,538 were those against two-wheeler users, 4,364 against four- wheeler users and 833 against those plying three-wheelers.
“We have increased our patrolling as we have to send the message across to the general public that this is a serious issue. Due to our efforts, at least people are now aware that they can’t venture out drunk at nights and get caught,” said a senior traffic official.
“Most of the people are those who go out on weekends after work and get drunk. They are usually office-goers or small-time workers, and they don’t really think about what they are doing,” the official pointed out. He exuded confidence that in the remaining months of this year the situation would improve further.