As drunken driving is one of the major reasons for occurrence of accidents in the State, the Government has asked the Director General of Police (DGP) to take strong action including arrest of the driver in the drunken driving cases.
Commerce & Transport Principal Secretary Usha Padhee has written a letter to DGP Sunil Bansal in this regard.
“As per the reports received from RTOs and police authorities, during the Zero Fatality Week, 1,257 cases of drunken driving were detected by RTOs and 133 such cases were detected by police. But no drivers have been arrested for drunken driving,” Padhee said in her letter.
She said the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety has directed the Odisha Government to prosecute the offender (in drunken driving case) and seek imprisonment as prescribed under Section 185 of MV Act, 1988 even for the first offence. The committee has also directed for suspension of driving licence for a period of not less than three months.
“The Supreme Court Committee has expressed their concern for the rise in road accident fatalities in the State. Hence, steps may kindly be taken for arrest of the drunken drivers to discourage others from drinking and driving,” Padhee told the DGP.
For detection of drunken driving, she said, an adequate number of breath analysers have been provided to police stations and RTOs. Further, as decided, the Zero Tolerance Day against violation of traffic rules should be followed in letter and spirit, she said.
The DGP was further instructed to issue necessary instructions to all police stations not to compound the drunken driving cases and arrest the drivers.
As per Section 185 of the MV Act, whoever, while driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle under the influence of drinks and drugs shall be punishable for the first offence with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine of Rs 10,000 or with both; and for a second or subsequent offence, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to of Rs 15,000 or with both.
In view of the constant rise in road accident fatalities, the State Government had observed the Zero Fatality Week from April 1 to 7, 2023. There was a decline in accidents and fatalities by 39.9% and 28.6%, respectively, during this week compared to the week just preceding it.
Similarly, there was a decline in accidents and fatalities by 33% and 15%, respectively, during this week compared to the same period of last year.