The Director General of Police (DGP) on Monday informed the Madras High Court that 4.22 lakh cases of drunken driving were filed in the State between January 2019 and February 2022 and a fine amount of Rs. 18.70 crore was collected from the offenders. He also said that 1,108 road accidents had taken place between 2018 and February 2022 due to drunken driving and that 262 people were killed in those accidents.
In a status report filed before the third Division Bench of Justices T. Raja and Kabali Kumaresh Babu, the DGP said, stringent action, including imposition of fine and suspension of driving licence, was being taken against those found to be driving motor vehicles under the influence of alcohol though the breath analyser tests were discontinued between March 2020 and April this year to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The DGP told the court that whenever the police suspects any person to be driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, they insist upon the driver to undergo a breath test on the spot with a breathalyzer. If the driver refuses to take the test, then a presumption of drunkenness gets drawn under Section 205 of the Motor Vehicles Act and the driver given another opportunity to undergo the test at the police station after arrest.
Further, within two hours of the arrest, he/she would be subjected to medical examination by a registered practitioner and made to undergo a blood test to check the alcohol content. From April 1 this year, the police personnel had been instructed to resume breath analyzer tests and also undertake blood alcohol content tests wherever required with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of accidents and fatalities, he said.
Providing a break up, the DGP said, 2.35 lakh cases of drunken driving were filed and Rs. 4.21 crore of fine was collected in 2019. In 2020, 1.01 lakh cases were filed and Rs. 6.75 crore was collected. In 2021, 77,272 cases were filed and Rs. 6.93 crore was collected towards fine. This year, till the end of February, 8,058 cases were filed and fine amount of Rs. 80.07 lakh was collected. He also said that 337 people had suffered grievous injuries in accidents due to drunken driving since 2018.
The submissions were made in response to a writ petition filed by Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited which had sought for strict implementation of Section 185 (punishment for driving vehicles under the influence of alcohol or drugs) of the Motor Vehicle Act. The Division Bench dismissed the writ petition after being satisfied with the action that was already being taken by the police against the offence.
In his report, the DGP also told the court strict action was being taken against six major offences - over speeding, overloading of passengers, carrying passengers in goods carriages, drunken driving, red light jumping and use of mobile phone while driving. He said that 24.85 lakh cases were booked for these offences in 2020 and fine amount of Rs. 37.18 crore was collected besides suspending 8.47 lakh driving licences and cancelling 4,851 licences.
In 2021, 31.82 lakh cases were booked for these six offences and Rs. 39.81 crore of fine was collected besides suspending 7.79 lakh driving licences. No driving licence was cancelled that year. Similarly this year, 4.72 lakh cases were booked till February and fine of Rs. 5.44 crore was collected besides suspending 1.02 lakh licences. “Various measures taken during last three years have brought positive results by reducing accidents and fatalities,” he said.
