During the drive conducted at major traffic junctions and check posts in Guwahati, 147 persons were found to be driving their vehicles under the influence of alcohol beyond the permissible limits on 31st December 2019 as compared to 413 in 2018.
The Guwahati Traffic Police conducted a massive drive against people driving their vehicles after consuming alcohol across the city starting from the evening of December 31, 2019 till around 6 am on January 1, 2020.
During the time that the drive was conducted, a total of 147 persons were found to be driving their vehicles in a drunken state. This was a 65% drop from December 31, 2018.
The number of drunken driving cases this New Year's Eve as compared to the last year has seen a massive decline. In 2018, 413 people riding two-wheelers and four-wheelers were fined by traffic police officials for drunk driving.
The city police personnel, equipped with alcometers (breath analysers), had set up check-points at various road junctions as well as main roads in the night to keep a check on drunken driving.
It may be mentioned that if a breath analyser detects that a driver’s blood alcohol level exceeding 30 mg/100 ml, he/she is liable to be punished.
“Owing to the stiff police action as well as the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act being put in place, there were comparatively less number of vehicles plying on city roads on 31st December night. Rash-driving bikers were also pretty much off the roads much to the relief of the commuters,” a senior police official told G Plus.
Overall, a total of 111 persons were penalised with on-the-spot fines during the same period for various traffic violations across the city and a total fine of over Rs 1,02,000 was realised. Additionally, 255 non-FIR cases were forwarded to court for proceedings.
It may be mentioned here that on-the-spot fines worth Rs 1,18,800 were realised from 559 persons during last year’s checking on the occasion of New Year’s eve. Additionally, 524 non-FIR cases were forwarded to court for proceedings.
Apart from drunken driving, 21 cases of not wearing helmets were also detected. Last year, on the other hand, 156 cases of not wearing helmets were detected in the city.
Traffic police seized a total of 71 driving licenses on December 31, 2019 as compared to 255 licenses seized on December 31, 2018.
“The increase in fines after the enactment of the revised fines under Motor vehicles (Amendment) Act resulted in registering almost no major incident of road mishap in the city on the New Year’s eve night. However, there were six incidents of minor accidents that occurred at places like Bharalumukh and GS Road,” informed police sources.
