A breath of relief for tipplers

Not many tipplers know that the Hyderabad Traffic Police had raised the permissible breath alcohol content (BAC) for drunk driving to 35 mg. for 100 ml. As per the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act 1988, a person driving a vehicle with a BAC of 30 mg. for 100 ml. could be prosecuted.

Interestingly, their counterparts in Cyberabad and Rachakonda were adhering the MV Act stipulations. This anomaly of different BAC levels within the city is now being corrected.

Multiple standards

All these years, the three Commissionerates had maintained different standards in areas under their jurisdiction. For instance, a reading noted 35 mg. was legal in Hyderabad, whereas the same reading was found to be illegal in Cyberabad and Rachakonda Commissionerates.

The decision to follow same parameters and streamline the enforcement drive was taken during a meeting with the State Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy recently. “In the last one week, traffic police in Cyberabad and Rachakonda increased the permissible limits of drunk driving and made it 35 mg. for 100 ml., which was being followed by the Hyderabad Traffic Police,” said a senior traffic police officer.

Machine error or tweaked standards?

When contacted, Cyberabad Traffic DCP SM Vijay Kumar said the decision was made after taking into consideration the errors made by the breath analyser. “Many a time the breath analyser can indicate a wrong reading. Considering the same, the permissible limit was increased,” he said.

Meanwhile, chief functionary of the Indian Federation of Road Safety, an NGO, Vinod Kanumala said, “Contrary to the prescribed limit for drunk driving under Motor Vehicle Act, the traffic police in the State capital has tweaked the standards and made it more tippler-friendly, which is illegal.”