Odisha Transport department seeks arrest of drunken drivers

BHUBANESWAR: The Commerce and Transport department on Saturday urged Odisha Police to arrest drunken drivers to discourage others from driving under the influence of alcohol. The department’s principal secretary Usha Padhee has requested the director general of police to instruct all police stations across the state not to compound drunken driving cases and arrest the offenders. Stating that drunken driving is one of the reasons for occurrence of accidents in the state and 1,390 such cases were detected during the zero fatality week from April 1 to 7, she pointed out drivers were not arrested for drunken driving.  

“The Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety has directed that the police should prosecute the offender and seek imprisonment as prescribed under section 185 of MV Act, 1988 even for the first offence in case of driving a vehicle under the influence of drinks and drugs,” she said. For detection of drunken driving, adequate number of breath analysers have been provided to police stations and RTOs.

As per section 185 of the MV Act, whoever 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 Rs 15,000 or with both.

The accidents and fatalities declined by 39.9 per cent and 28.6 per cent respectively during the zero fatality week compared to the week preceding it. Padhee urged police to ensure zero tolerance day against violation of traffic rules is followed in letter and spirit.