Cuttack: With a view to curb road casualties due to drunken driving, the state Crime Branch (CB) and state Transport Authority jointly organised a one-day workshop on the effective use of alcohol breath analysers at the CB conference hall here, Friday.
Reportedly, 48 sub-inspectors (SIs) and assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) from all districts of the state were imparted basic skills in operating the breath analysers. Initially, 68 breath analysers have been distributed to the SIs and ASIs in the rural areas to check drunken driving motorists.
Chairing the session, CB ADG Santosh Kumar Upadhyay said, “In order to put a check on the menace we are going to launch a campaign ‘Zero Tolerance to Drunken Driving’ from this month.” He added that the three major reasons behind road casualties are- over speeding, using phone while driving and drunken driving. The breath analysers will work as a preventive measure in the last case.
The breath analysers machine help the police officers can also record the drivers’ names, driving license numbers, vehicle registration numbers and the percentage of alcohol consumed by the vehicle drivers while driving.
Earlier, police stations in urban areas were given compounding powers for Motor Vehicle (MV) offence. But now the police officers in rural areas also have been given compounding powers. These machines will help the cops collect hard evidences against the violators, which will be subsequently produced before the court also.
Upadhyay further said that, with a view to intensify the initiative, the Transport Department will provide more breath analysers to all the police stations across the state in separate phases. The superintendents of police (SPs) of all districts have been asked to implement the initiative.
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