Drunk school van driver falls asleep at the wheel, arrested

A school van driver, who was allegedly heavily drunk, was arrested by the police here today after he dozed off at the wheel while ferrying children home.

Suresh Shiravale (45), the driver, allegedly fell asleep when driving the van this afternoon. There were around 15 children of various ages in the van.

Seeing his head resting on the steering wheel of the moving van, the children panicked.

Traffic Constable Santosh Bagul heard their screaming when the van was on the service road in Louis Wadi area, said inspector Anil Mangle.

Bagul forced the driver to stop and disembark. Another driver was arranged to ferry the children home, the inspector said.

Shiravale was found to be drunk. He was arrested under section 185 (drunken driving) of the Motor Vehicles Act, the inspector said, adding that further probe was on.