scorecardresearch
Friday, Mar 29, 2024
Advertisement
Premium

‘Cops get exhaustive training to have an eye for drunk drivers’

At the end of the night, riders of four two-wheelers were stopped for driving under the influence of alcohol.

SRINATH RAO AND SANTOSHEE GULABKALI MISHRA

A few minutes before 11 pm on a Saturday night, a white Mahindra Bolero pulled up opposite the derelict Tulip Star Hotel in Juhu. A few traffic policemen stepped out, while nearby, a few others hopped off their two-wheelers, and began to drag barricades across the south-bound carriageway of the street and the men were good to go.
Over the next two hours, the seven policemen – one sub-inspector and six constables attached to the D N Nagar Traffic Division – would man a key junction on the way to upscale Juhu Tara Road and Juhu Chowpatty, scanning the rush of automobiles for traffic rules offenders. Sub-inspector Ravindra Dudamani said only half the sanctioned strength was on the street. “Usually, 12 men are assigned for a drink driving nakabandi. But due to staff crunch, only seven could be sent,” he added.

Dudamani and his colleagues took turns to stand by the barricades, flagging down vehicles for checks, while the rest spread out over 200 m and checked vehicles at intervals of a few minutes. The key, he said was to observe a vehicle on its approach to the barricades. A sober driver would slow down and drive straight, but a drunk driver will be erratic in his speed and swivel slightly from left to right on the approach.

Advertisement

According to Dudamani, there are some tell-tale signs to spot suspect drivers  some distance away. “We look out for drivers who break out in a sweat inside their air-conditioned cars. They surely have consumed alcohol, and the moment he/she notices a nakabandi, he/she becomes nervous,” Dudamani said.

“Traffic personnel receive exhaustive training to read faces and expressions before deciding on whom to stop for checks. People drive through narrow lanes to bypass us, but we always manage to catch drunk drivers when a nakabandi is conducted at major junctions. Some drivers chew gum or gutka to mask the smell of alcohol. We then double check with a breathalyser,” he added. Dudamani’s colleague, constable A Patel, hopes for an alternative to having to manually smell drivers for traces of alcohol. “Someone should devise a tablet-like machine, which when held against a person’s face will give us the  reading of the exact amount of alcohol consumed,” Patel said.
At present, Patel has no option but to stick his head inside a car, place his mouth within touching distance of the driver’s before asking him his name. “I don’t eat at night before a drink and drive nakabandi. If I did, I would throw up within minutes,” he said.

Festive offer

At the end of the night, riders of four two-wheelers were stopped for driving under the influence of alcohol. Not one went down without a fight. “What I find most irritating is that when they are caught, the men argue too much, knowing fully well that they are at fault,” Dudamani said. Others try to strong-arm the police, boasting of friends in respectable positions. “The first thing these men do after being caught is to take out their cellphones and make a dozen calls, hoping someone will save them,” said Dudamani.

But there are some drivers who manage to slip away. A few minutes before 1 am, a Maruti Swift sped through the now empty street, seemingly blind to the barricades. One constable raised the alarm. But even as he yelled to his colleagues “lal gaadi la thambva,” it is too late. Dudamani radioes the information ahead, but no further mention is made of the one that got away.

Advertisement

Around 1.15 am, it is time to pack up for the night. “All those smells were making me giddy. Now, I’m going to head home, take a shower and have dinner,” said constable Patel. The anti drink-and-drive campaign in Mulund is enforced by a senior officer, and ten subordinates have taken guard. A new format has been evolved to monitor four nights a week, between 11 pm and 1 am, and not necessarily weekends.

The scene begins to change on the busy roads of Mulund half an hour before the checking gets under way. Barricades appear on the roads, and traffic policemen wearing reflector jackets and holding green or red coloured batons take positions. “We have to work very strategically. Two of the ten team members hide behind trees or electric meter boxes on the roads leading up to the checking point, while the others are stationed around the barricades. Offenders try to turn around and run on seeing us, and this is when the hidden policemen leave their posts and try to apprehend them,” said assistant police inspector Annasaheb Pawar with the Mulund Traffic police station.
“The actual task is faced by those who talk to drivers. They can sense the smell of liquor within a fraction of a second. Usually, we ask the drivers their names and destinations, and have to detect the smell of alcohol while they answer. Once we have sensed that they have consumed liquor, we use the breathalyser,” Pawar added.

Every squad of traffic policemen on anti drink-and-drive duty has a point man – the one officer or constable who can spot a vehicle being driven by a drunk driver before anyone else does. The policemen know all the telltale signs, the slow speed indicating extra caution, the slight swerving of the vehicle which is too frequent to be accidental and the sudden slowing down of the vehicle as soon as it comes within sighting distance of a traffic police barricade. The point man is the first one to approach a suspect vehicle to examine the driver for inebriation and is the most relied upon. However, like any point man, he also runs the maximum risks from being abused, assaulted, spat upon to being hit by cars trying to escape punishment.

A constable, who usually enforces the anti drink-and-drive campaign near the Nirmal Lifestyle Mall in Mulund, said, “I have been spat on my face and also  knocked down by Sedans, which are the worst as they do not even acknowledge our presence and speed past, knocking down our barricades as well.”

srinath.rao@expressindia.com

santoshee.mishra@expressindia.com

First uploaded on: 11-06-2014 at 01:19 IST
Latest Comment
Post Comment
Read Comments
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
close