Now, digital breathalysers to check drunk driving

The Mumbai Traffic Police (MTP) on Saturday launched 56 advanced breathalysers enabled with GPS and WiFi facility. The Alcovisor breathalysers have built-in cameras and printers that will help the traffic police in keeping records of those indulging in drunken driving. The device can store upto 10,000 tests and works for seven hours following a two-hour charge.

The department informed that heavy traffic divisions like Colaba, Worli, Bandra and Vikhroli would receive 10 such devices each. “After a trial period, each of the 34 units would be given two breathalysers each,” said Inspector S. Koregaonkar of traffic police headquarters.

A traffic constable, who attended the launch, said, “The new device has a funnel-like attachment that will also check whether the motorist has consumed any alcohol at all. The device will also record the place and time of the test conducted.”

The camera in the device will help keep a record of details of not just the motorists but also the traffic police personnel.

“The moment an offending motorist/biker would blow into the straw attached to the mouthpiece of the device, a picture of his/her would get clicked, which would automatically get uploaded on the main server at the traffic police headquarters. As soon as the data would reach the main server, we will also get to know if the motorist/biker is a repeat offender,” said Mr Koregaonkar.

The device, costing Rs 60,000 each, has been made by Uniphos Envirotronic Pvt Ltd. Speaking at the event, Deepak Talekar, deputy manager of the company said, “The device has two blinking lights. If the alcohol level remains within the permissible limit, green light would blink; above that the red light would blink.”