THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With COVID-related restrictions lifted by state government following a drastic dip in cases, state police have resumed inspection to check drunk driving. State Police Chief Anil Kant has directed police to intensify drive against offenders during night time.
An order was issued in this regard on Saturday. In the last two years, police were advised not to use breath analysers for verifying whether the driver was drunk or not, owing to the pandemic.
The DGP directed police officials to enforce stringent checks on rash driving and speeding too. Officials have been asked to initiate prosecution proceedings against those persons found driving under the influence of alcohol and those exceeding prescribed speed limits. "As per the order issued by DGP, we will resume vehicle checking immediately," a top police officer told The New Indian Express.
In February, the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety had urged the government to take appropriate steps to ensure that road accidents in the state are reduced.
As part of it, the committee had directed the state government to provide the police with appropriate equipment or devices for detecting drug or liquor content in blood if drivers are found inebriated during vehicle inspection.
The committee pointed out various causes of accidents such as human errors like speeding, dangerous driving, drunk driving, use of mobile phones while driving and non-human errors such as poor condition of roads and mechanical fault of vehicles.
National Crime Records Bureau has reported that between 2018 and 2020, drunk driving led to over 38,000 road accidents. This is around 2 per cent of all road accidents that happened in India. And, in 2019 alone, nearly 3,000 people died in such accidents.