Drunk drivers already killed 11 this year in Cyberabad

HYDERABAD: The habit of some people in Cyberabad to drink and drive has claimed yet another life on Wednesday.

This will be the 11th life to have been snuffed out under Cyberabad commissionerate this year through the handiwork of drunk drivers on the road.

Last year, the commissionerate lost nearly 43 people to rash driving by drunk drivers, making it one of the main causes of death on Cyberabad roads.

These incidents are despite the fact that week after week police have been nabbing tipplers and confiscating their vehicles.

In the month of January alone, 1,890 cases were booked on drunk drivers from whom the courts got a fine amount of Rs 1.17 crore, which roughly translated to 60 people caught daily, coughing up Rs 6,200 on average.

However, despite all efforts, Cyberabad commuters seem to learn no lesson and continue to trust their driving skills under the influence of alcohol.

“We are attempting to catch them before they do any substantial damage. However, the deterrence from repeatedly doing this requires a fear of the law, which will come with suspension of licences,” said Cyberabad DCP for Traffic, Vijay Kumar. This could be true, as in the last five years, the RTA of Rangareddy, Shadnagar and Pargi under Rangareddy limits has only managed to suspend  742 licences of which 124 are for drunk driving.

When we compare this to the data of those caught, in 2019 alone, 21,008 persons were caught for drunk driving under Cyberabad commissionerate.

This could imply that suspension of licence maybe the untapped solution that Cyberabad requires.

Meanwhile, behind the spiralling numbers, the majority of those who lost their lives are able, well-bodied youngsters.

For instance, in May last year, drunk drivers killed a BTech student Sai Vihitha at BHEL. In November, a drunk businessman killed a 26-year-old IT professional Abhishek Anand at Madhapur.

In the same month, a techie, with eight times higher than permissible alcohol levels, rammed into a bike on Biodiversity flyover and killed Vamshi Sai and Praveen Kumar, both 22.