Drunk driving up in Thane

Mumbai: The police registered more than 2,500 cases pertaining to drunken driving during New Year’s Eve on Sunday in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. While the figure for Mumbai — 615 — was slightly lower last year’s figure of 705, the violations
showed an upward trend in Thane and Navi Mumbai.

Mumbai sees fall in terms of cases registered from 705 in ’16 to 615.

Thane has seen the highest number of drunken driving cases — 1,366 — which were registered between 10 am on December 31 and early on Monday morning.

According to the police, the number of cases is the highest across the state. Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai police registered 424 cases. The Thane police rigorous checking drivers rigorously from December 29, and during the last three days, it caught 1,900 drunk drivers and collected a fine of Rs 28 lakh, said Amit Kale, deputy commissioner (traffic) of Thane police.

 Despite a series of awareness campaigns and drives initiated by the traffic police to combat drunken driving, there has not been much of a difference in the figures of last year and this year. In Mumbai, there were 7,600 cases of fines imposed on drivers for overspeeding, especially in South Mumbai and 4,000 other type of cases, like triple riding and riding motorcycles without helmet.

 Traffic police officers from every jurisdiction started anti-drunken driving campaigns from December 25, but all these measures failed to nip the menace at the bud. More than 2,000 police officers were involved in this campaign, and nearly 500 hand-held devices were used to bust drunken drivers.

Several stretches of roads had been designated as no-parking zones while a ban on flying objects has been enforced.

Then and Now
Last New Year’s Ever 705 cases of drunken driving were registered in Mumbai, and this year the number stands at 615. In Navi Mumbai last year 320 cases were registered while this year the number stands at 424.

Meanwhile, the Thane police commissionerate had registered 597 cases of people driving under the influence of alcohol and this time the number is 1,366.