Drunk driving cases register a dip

However, a few serious accidents involving drunk drivers contradict the police claims of strict enforcement and awareness. In April, a drunk driver killed a man and injured 11 persons at Raidurgam.

Hyderabad: Fear of going to jail, if caught driving their vehicles under the influence of alcohol, seems to be acting as a deterrent for women drivers in the IT corridor of Cyberabad. Data from January to May this year available with the traffic police indicate a drop in the number of women caught during drunk driving checks.

As part of the drive, the police caught eight women during last five months as against 23 women caught for drunken driving during the same period last year. According to the police, there is also a considerable drop in the cases of men caught driving vehicles under the influence of alcohol this year so far.

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As against 35,367 cases last year during January to May, this year during the same period, only 10,215 men were caught for drunk driving in Cyberabad.

A senior official of Cyberabad traffic police maintained that the drunk driving checks were continuing regularly across the jurisdiction and on weekends more traffic police teams were being deployed. “Due to strict enforcement and convictions by the courts, there is a drop in violations.

The IT corridor areas witnessed a high number of drunk driving cases but due to regular awareness programmes in collaboration with various stakeholders it has come down,” the official said.

However, a few serious accidents involving drunk drivers contradict the police claims of strict enforcement and awareness. In April, a drunk driver killed a man and injured 11 persons at Raidurgam.

A techie from Pragati Nagar, Nizampet, partied along with his friends till the early hours and while returning in his car, caused multiple road accidents. Similarly, in a recent case, a tanker driver, suspected to be under the influence of alcohol, rammed his vehicle into pedestrians at ORR Himayathsagar claiming two lives.

Towards May end, another drunk driver jumped the red signal and rammed his car into a motorcycle grievously injuring two painters — Satyanarayana and Kodari Kantha Rao, at Raidurgam.

“Drunk drivers create havoc in the IT corridor areas as the pubs are open till late in the night. After partying, they move around in the colonies to drop their friends or go out to eat. In the early hours, when there is no drunk driving checking, they head back home driving under the influence of alcohol and cause accidents,” pointed out Anvish Reddy, a techie.

Incidentally, most of the fatal accidents involving drunk car drivers were reported during early hours (between 3 am and 7 am) of the day in Cyberabad.