DNA

• Cops want the penalty to be hiked to Rs1 lakh with a prison term of five years

Mumbai, Sep 8:  The state government on Thursday September 6, finally sent its proposal recommending changes to be made in the law regarding drinking and driving. The government has recommended that the law be made more stringent. The proposal recommends that the fine amount be increased from the current Rs2,000 to Rs1 lakh and the prison term be increased from the current six months to a maximum of five years.

According to a senior police official, looking at the sheer number of people being caught drunk behind the wheel everyday, the state government had decided that the current law needed to be made more stringent to deter people from drinking and driving.

According to statistics, 4,436 people across the city were booked for drunken driving in the past three months. The special drive against drunken driving was started by traffic police on June 20. So far, 605 people have been sentenced to imprisonment while the driving licenses of as may as 474 people have been suspended.

Police said that the drive to curb this menace will continue, especially with the festival season starting. “We appeal to the citizens to refrain from drinking and driving in a rash, negligent and dangerous fashion,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Vijay Kamble said. 

From January this year, 5,920 cases of drunken driving were registered by the traffic police. Fines collected from drunk drivers during the period exceeded Rs1 crore. “This is probably the first time any department of the state police has collected so much money in fines,” a senior police officer from the traffic department told DNA.

Last year, there were a total of 1,022 cases of drunken driving while in 2005, there were 1,176 cases registered. In 2004 the number rose slightly to 2,057 while 2003 saw 1,040 cases of drunken driving being registered across the city.