No dull nights for traffic police on drunken driving beat in Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam Traffic Police crack down on drunken driving, regardless of background, with strict enforcement and zero tolerance policy.

Late on Monday night, a car blasting loud music pulled up at a drunken driving picket put up by the Visakhapatnam Traffic Police on NH-16 at Maddilapalem Junction. Soon as a home guard from the III Town police station walked up to the car, the occupants began shouting at him. “Do you know who we are?! We are close friends of a Minister. Do you want to get transferred to Vacancy Reserve (VR)?” the occupants bellowed.

Sensing that the home guard was caught off-guard, the ASI present at the scene walked up to the car, and explained politely but firmly that drunken driving tests would be conducted on all drivers, regardless of their background.

“The driver returned a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of 120 mg per 100 ml of blood, almost four times that of the prescribed limit. They were immediately booked for drunken driving, and for their drunken outburst, were also slapped with a charge of obstructing the police from discharging their duty.

“Such cases are not new. Every night, we come across a couple of motorists who try to throw their weight around. ‘Do you know who I am?’ they ask us, and claim to be close to a politician or a senior police officer. But they are booked regardless, as it is important to clamp down on drunken driving as they pose a risk not just to themselves but to others on the road as well,” said a traffic constable, adding that there are similar amusing anecdotes every other night.

A few days ago, a III Town police constable was assaulted by a person in an inebriated condition at China Waltair. He suffered a fracture in his hand and is being treated at a hospital. Such assaults, however, are rare and the public is generally cooperative, said police.

Another home guard who is a frequenter on the drunken driving beat said that there are occasions when inebriated motorists try to reverse their vehicles in a bid to escape. “Some inebriated persons lecture us saying that instead of focussing our energies on nabbing criminals who are on the loose, we are targeting innocent drunken drivers,” the home guard chortled.

Additional DCP (Traffic) G. Srinivasa Rao said that instances of rude behaviour from motorists is rare. “On a daily basis, around 100 drunken driving cases are booked in the city limits. On weekends, the number doubles. Mostly, every one in 12 drivers that we pull over for checking is found to be inebriated,” the Additional DCP said.