Don't Drink & Drive: My driver went to bar and is now behind bars'

Bengaluru: Residents and motorists passing through Inner Ring Road in Indiranagar area were taken by surprise on Saturday when they noticed two cars involved in accidents parked at important junctions. The cars had empty bottles of liquor placed on top and were pasted with banners that said, ‘Do Not Drink and Drive’ and ‘My Driver Went To Bar and Is Now behind Bars’.

In an innovative measure, the Bengaluru traffic police from Halasuru traffic police station used the two cars involved in accidents, a Toyota Innova and a Hyundai i10, to educate motorists about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol. One of the cars was parked near TOIT Pub at B.M. Sri Circle and the other near Loft38 Vapours Pub on 12th Main Road.

A senior police officer told Deccan Chronicle that the initiative was a part of the Road Safety Week organised by the Bengaluru traffic police. “The two cars were involved in accidents while taking a U-turn on Inner ring Road in Indiranagar late on Thursday night. The cars had been towed away to the traffic police station. As the cars were with us and the owners had not come collect them, we decided to use the cars to create awareness among motorist not to indulge in drunk driving. We called the owners and told them that we would remove the number plates and use their cars to create awareness. The owners agreed,” said an inspector from the Halasuru traffic police station.

The initiative was taken under the supervision of DCP traffic-east Anupam Agrawal and ACP traffic-east R.I. Kasim. A police officer said that the cars were parked at the two junctions that are frequented by motorists, around 5 pm on Saturday and were removed on Sunday afternoon. “As it was a weekend, we though the display could educate the youth, who go out on Saturday evenings, on the dangers of drunk driving,” an officer said.

“In 2017, the police booked over 2,200 cases of driving under the influence in the East division. On an average day, during regular checks, the team books over 10-12 cases of drunk driving,” the officer said. A motorist, who had stopped to look at the cars, said, “First, I thought there had been a terrible accident and was scared. But when I saw carefully, I realised that it was part of an initiative by the traffic police. It is a very good step. After seeing the condition of the cars, people will be stopped from violating traffic rules.”