In a bid to check the growing number of fatal road accidents in the capital, the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) has lately stepped up checking for drink-driving during night-time.
Officials at MTPD, Ramshahpath, said traffic outposts in the city areas have been directed to conduct regular checks on motorists with breathalyzers. The checking normally takes place between 8 pm to 10 pm.
There are a total 26 traffic outposts in Kathmandu Valley. Over half of them are located in the inner city.
Traffic officials said they have started special checkings on Friday evening as most cases of drink-driving leading to accidents are reported at the weekend. “We have arranged to depute additional traffic police to the poorly-manned traffic outposts to conduct checking,” said Traffic Police Inspector Deepak Giri.
Giri said they took action against 464 motorists and motorcycle owners in the 20 days starting April 20. “Of them, 120 motorists were found so drunk that we had to seize their vehicles in view of their condition,” he added.
He said they seized the driving licenses of 231 motorists and the bill books of 63 others during the period for drink-driving.
Drink-driving is not found only among private vehicle owners, though. Drivers of public transport vehicles are also among the offenders.
Fifty drivers of public transport vehicles were found driving while under the influence of alcohol. Traffic officials said driving public transport in a heavily drunken state puts the lives of many people at risk. “A little carelessness on the part of drivers in narrow streets with concrete dividers could easily cause accidents,” said Giri.
Kathmandu traffic police have geared up efforts to enforce traffic rules in recent months. They have started checking from 7 am to 8 am and 8 pm to 10 pm almost on a regular basis.
This is in stark contrast to the little action that traffic personnel took against violators in the months following Janaandolan II in April, 2006.
Typical traffic rule violations in Kathmandu streets include haphazard parking, flouting red lights while crossing the road and violating other traffic signals, running vehicles without road permits, drink-driving and failure to produce the bill book and other documents when asked. Motorists using mobile phones while at the wheel and obstructing vehicular movement are other violations.
koshraj@myrepublica.com
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