Traffic cops drive fear and fines into drunk drivers' hearts in Khammam

Khammam: The traffic police are cracking down quite severely on drunk drivers who are now even wondering if the pleasures of social drinking are worth their while if there is a police encounter to follow. What they are up against, if asked to pull over, is a breathalyser test, a fine to pay and a counselling session, ending with a graphic depiction of the hellish accidents that result when drivers with impaired cognition and slow reflexes are let loose on the roads.

“It is better to refrain from the habit than consume alcohol because the experience is a nightmare,” said M. Srinivas, who got a taste of the drill that awaited those thus apprehended. He said that most motorists were unaware of the fine and the punishment for such negligence.

The police first use the blood alcohol calculator (BAC). About 10 per cent of the alcohol in the bloodstream is excreted via the breath, perspiration and urine and the rest is metabolised. BAC values ranging between 0.01 to 0.05 are normal; a person having values between 0.03 to 0.12 will also have mild euphoria, talkativeness, decreased attention, impaired judgement and incre-ased reaction time. Such symptoms also point to emotional instability, loss of critical judgment, decreased sensory response and lack of muscular coordination.

Drivers with these numbers in their blood sample will have their cars seized and put in police stations, given a challan and asked to appear before the magistrate, who will ask them to pay a fine ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000. What’s more, the traffic police then check whether there are any cases against the vehicle whereupon the offender has to pay the balance of the fine with a late fee.

The police then summon them to the police station for a counselling session by a psychiatrist and gastroenterologist who tell them how the alcohol habit led to suicidal tendencies and liver damage before showing them a video of various scenes from horrific accidents that had killed people driving under the influence of alcohol.

This is an innovative way to put people off a dreaded habit that destroys families and livelihoods, but as D. Sankar, who had been through this sequence of deterrents, asked: why is the government allowing the sale of liquor through the belt shops?