Hyderabad: Around 1,200 charge sheets were filed by the traffic police against drunk drivers in April and around 200 people were jailed. But this is not serving as a deterrent.
Senior police officials say there is no decrease in the numbers of drunk drivers so far. The cops are now trying to spread the message that drivers convicted for drunk driving will face difficulties in getting government jobs, passports and visa clearance.
Meanwhile, road safety experts say that mere fining, counselling or imprisonment do not work as a deterrent for drunk drivers. They say that drunk drivers should not be allowed to drive for a substantial period so that he/she does not repeat the offence.
The traffic police and RTA have been trying to make it difficult for the offenders to drive by cancelling their driver’s licence which is included in the SC guidelines on road safety. As per the guidelines, whenever the police catch a drunk driver a proposal should be sent to the RTA seeking suspension of his DL. The RTA would then send a notice to the offender to give an explanation within a week based on which officials can decide whether to cancel his DL or not. However, the process is ineffective due to lack of coordination between the police and RTA.
“So far, there is no system in place for the police to get updates on the proposals they send. The RTA does not inform us whether the DL is cancelled or not. There is no database which the police can access regarding this,” said traffic police DCP A.V. Ranganath adding the issues were discussed with RTA officials.
There is also no way for the police to understand the status of a DL. “There is no system in place for the police to check if the DL is valid or not,” said another official.
