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523 motorists booked for drunk driving, over 1,000 traffic offences recorded on New Year eve

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Despite a series of awareness drives and campaigns, initiated by the Mumbai traffic police, to curb drunk driving over the last five years, it shows no sign of abating.

As many as 523 motorists in the city were caught for driving under the influence of alcohol. The arrests were made over the New Year eve and continued through the wee hours of Thursday.

Out of the 523 motorists, the highest number of offenders — 149 — belonged to the age group of 26 to 30. There has only been a marginal improvement this year in Mumbai compared to last year's count of 568 cases.

In Thane, however, the number has increased exponentially with 628 people booked for the same offence on December 31 night, when compared to 401 last year.

Joint commissioner of police, Traffic, BK Upadhyay, admits the police's failure when he says, "We have been running campaigns and they have been effective to an extent. However, when it comes to driving responsibly, it has to be an individual's priority.

As precautionary measure, we had communicated our message to pubs and restaurants as well to ensure that they do not allow drunk revelers to drive. However, the number this year has been less vis-a-vis the last three years. It shows that the campaigns have been effective, though the impact has been slow." The drunk drivers were booked under section 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act.

Around 280 arrests were made in the Western suburbs, from Bandra to Dahisar; 140 in eastern suburbs and 91 in South Mumbai. "We mostly picked up drunk motorists from Bandra, Malad, Andheri, Goregaon and Borivali. Our focus was to patrol areas along the seafront like Marine Drive, Gateway, Worli and Carter Road and also across the city where we put up nakabandis. Our officials were manning these places round the clock and no major untoward incidents were reported," added Upadhyay.

The department had started the year-end campaign 10 days ago, leading to 617 cases of drink driving between December 24 and December 30. In all, 15541 drink driving cases were registered between January and December 2014 as compared to 15871 cases in the corresponding period in 2013. Around 4300 people were imprisoned in 2014 and the total fine collected amounts to over Rs3.17 crore.

From December 31 night through the New Year morning, 1055 motorists were booked for other traffic offences which include speeding, illegal parking, talking and texting while driving, not wearing helmets and violating the traffic signal. That apart, 148 motorists were booked for driving without license. More than 75 new checkpoints were set up with more than 1,500 traffic personnel manning the city.

Traffic cops gift roses to motorists to usher in 2015
The traffic police gifted roses to more than 10,000 motorists to usher in the New Year and to encourage them to be responsible behind the wheel in the coming days. "This was a friendly gesture to inspire people to drive safely," says Upadhyay. The officers deployed at nakabandis and on patrols were handing over roses to motorists and wishing them a safe and happy New Year between11pm and 1am.

In Mumbai, the number of drunk drivers caught between 11pm of December 31 and 1am of January 1: 523 (Last year, it was 568)
In Thane, the number of drunk drivers caught between 11pm of December 31 and 1am of January 1: 628 (Last year, it was 401)
South Mumbai: 98; East Mumbai:141; West Mumbai: 284
With 149 cases, most offenders belong to the age group of 26 to 30

In Mumbai, other traffic offences between 11pm of December 31 and 1am of January 1: 1055 (speeding, driving without helmet, violating signals, etc)
Driving without license — between 11pm of December 31 and 1am of January 1: 148
Total drink driving statistics for Mumbai
Between January 1 and December 31, 2014 - 15541 cases; imprisonment and fine – 4333; only fine - 3098; total fine collected - Rs3.17 crore
Between January 1 and December 31, 2013 – 15897 cases; imprisonment and fine - 4973; total fine collected Rs2.7 crore

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