New Year: Drunk driving cases go down in Mumbai; 568 booked

As many as 568 motorists were booked in the city for alleged drunken driving on New Year eve and early today, down by nearly 270 cases last year, city traffic police said today.
Sixty two motorists were booked for speeding while 1,540 people were fined for riding bikes without helmets and rash driving. Besides, 570 were fined for not following safety rules like not wearing seat belt or jumping the signal among others, police said.
"568 motorists were booked in the city for drunken driving last night. We started a safety campaign since Christmas night and it continued till last night. From 25th to 30th, a total 711 were booked for the offence," Joint Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar told PTI.

Every year, the highest number of drunk driving cases is recorded on December 31. Last year on this day, 840 motorists were caught for driving under the influence of alcohol, in comparison to 739 motorists in 2011.
"Last night, 272 less cases were reported compared to last year, due to our sustained and effective campaign on the ill effects of drunk driving. We have also strictly enforced the laws to deal with the menace of drunk driving. Over 50 per cent motorists involved in these offences were in the age group of 21 to 30 years," Phansalkar said.
Last night, nakabandis were carried out at 80 check points, with over 600 personnel and 150 officers equipped with breath analysers.

"We had also involved NGOs in our campaign and prepared effective slogans such as 'It will be better inside bars instead of behind bars', 'If you drink, don't drive' and reached as many people as possible through various mediums to create more awareness," the official said.

Traffic Police asked the taxi unions to ensure taxis were being operated in the city.
"If the public transport is available, then this will discourage the revellers under the influence of alcohol from riding or driving their own vehicles," Phansalkar said.
Taxi drivers did a remarkable job last night and not a single driver was found driving the four-wheeler under the influence of alcohol, he said.

The city traffic police had launched a sustained campaign against drink driving from June 20, 2007. There were as many as ten fatal accidents in Mumbai on December 31, 2006.