Not enough analysers, traffic cops forced to inhale breath of motorists to detect drink driving

Since 2012, due to lack of breath analysers, the field officers have been detecting a drunk driver by smelling mouth odour first.

With only nine fresh breath analysers at their service against the actual demand of 91, the Mumbai Traffic Police remains inadequately equipped to handle drunk drivers. Seven years after the drive began, the traffic police have till now put 80 per cent of the total 1,02,742 drunk drivers behind bars — using the embarrassing and archaic method of sniffing the driver’s breath in most cases.

Since 2012, due to lack of breath analysers, the field officers have been detecting a drunk driver by smelling mouth odour first. The analyser is then used for the purpose of evidence for prosecution in court.

The traffic police — with 25 traffic chowky jurisdiction — currently have a stock of 82 breath analysers, according to officers. Of them, only 56 are in working condition. Further, only 25 of them are currently used, as only those have the additional feature of printing the offence slip. In November 2013, the traffic department put in a request with the government for 91 fresh pieces of analysers, said B K Upadhyay, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic). The model sought was to have the feature of showing the alcohol level in a person’s breath and register the identity of the offender, complete with photograph, address and other details.

“We had tested the new model, which also has a camera and GPS location indicator attached with a printer. This makes policing more accurate as details are recorded more professionally on the spot,” said Pratap Dighavkar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic). The department, however, could procure only nine.

Sources said while the department started with 200 breath analysers in 2008, many stopped working as saliva from drivers often dripped into the scanners affecting its functioning. Over a period of time, when the machines started giving erroneous results, many were discarded, said officers. Forced to check the alcohol levels by sniffing mouth odour of the drivers, many of the traffic police personnel have fallen ill while a few have even contracted contagious diseases like tuberculosis, according to reports.

megha.sood@expressindia.com

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