Road Safety Initiative: Blow & be-held!

As you trudge along through weekdays and prepare to dive headlong into your neighbourhood watering holes on weekends, this new initiative by the State government might come to your rescue. Very soon breath analysers will be installed at pubs and bars in the city. This announcement which is a part of RISK (Road Safety Initiative for a Safe Karnataka) has been welcomed by the night clubs. Hoping to curb binge drinking and driving, the government will install breath analysers at the doorstep of prominent pubs and bars in the city to ensure that everyone is aware about the amount of liquor they have consumed and whether it is above or below the permissible limit for driving or not. Here’s what our city’s prominent pub owners and youngsters feel about the move.

“It’s a very good initiative by the government. I fully endorse it. The ones who need this are the ones who have too many drinks, sometimes beyond what they can handle. Convincing them to take the test might be a test for us. Hopefully, this will lead to responsible consumption of alcohol. It will also reduce road rage,” says Viraj Suvarna, Take 5. Many times youngsters are unsure of the quality of liquor they’ve consumed at their night outs in the city and this will help them. Mitali Tandon of Morning Fresh, a 28-year old youngster confesses how she’s always the designated driver for her friends after a drinking bout, “Installing breath analysers is a great way to increase self and peer-policing to ensure that everyone enjoys what the city’s nightlife has to offer and drinks responsibly. This move is a great integration into the system.”

According to recent reports, drunken driving accounted for 25,574 cases, wherein licences were cancelled and over 21,000 cases were related to other traffic violations, while 9,616 cases were under consideration. One such facility has already been inaugurated at a pub on Church Street and now city folks will have an option of self-assessment which they would prefer over being subjected to tests by traffic cops.

Vamsi Mareddy, director and co-founder, Three Dots and a Dash states, “This is a welcome step towards reducing the number of drunken driving mishaps in the city. By introducing breath analysers at the doorstep of pubs and bars, everyone can now make an informed decision whether to hail a cab or drive back themselves. We will be installing one at our place soon and have contacted the concerned authorities. We’re waiting for their response to install one at the earliest.”

Rajiv Ramnane, The Local terrace drinkery adds, “I support this initiative. I will seek an installation of the breath analysers as long as the department doesn't enforce policing responsibilities onto us.”