Woman among 182 arrested for drink-driving in Mumbai

On the first day of their campaign against drink driving, the city traffic police on Wednesday arrested 182 motorists, including a woman. Among the arrested motorists, 31 were driving their vehicles without licence, said an officer from the Colaba traffic police division.   

Under the supervision of joint commissioner of police (Traffic) Vivek Phansalkar, the traffic police have started the week-long drive on December 25 in order to prevent accidents due to drink and negligent driving and speeding in the festive season leading to the New Year.

Talking about the woman who has been arrested, the officer said, “The 24-year-old woman hails from Jalgaon. She stays at Malad on rent and works for a multinational company in South Mumbai. She was caught by the police around 12.30am near the Regal Cinema circle at Colaba for driving her car allegedly under the influence of alcohol. She was on her way back home after attending a party with her colleagues.”   

Every year, the highest number of drink 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. “The traffic police will focus mainly on preventing accidents by deploying adequate number of personnel on the roads to ensure that Mumbaikars welcome the New Year without a single mishap,” said Phansalkar.     

According to the officer, the traffic police 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.

High numbers
West 48
South 18
Central 20
East 51
North 45