Mohali: Drunken driving challans come down by 60% this year

MOHALI: In a major feat, the district police this year issued 60.5% less challans for drunken driving as compared to the last year.
The official data showed that the number of traffic fines sharply declined from January to November this year. While 2,319 challans were issued in 2018, only 915 violators were penalised this year.

Except red light jumping, which saw a hike this year, fines for all other types of traffic violations saw a dip.Last year, 15,613 persons were fined for jumping the red light, which increased to 16,356 this year.
Besides drunken driving, the number of challans issued for overspeeding also decreased by 30%. “Last year, we issued 433 challans for overspeeding, but only 302 were fined for the same this year. Currently, we have only two speed radar guns, of which one was brought this year. With only two speed guns for the whole district, it is difficult to set-up nakas frequently,” said a police official.
He added that last year they had five speed radars, but four of these stopped working due to technical glitches.
Punjab traffic road advisor Navdeep Asija told TOI, “The main purpose of penalising traffic violators is to prevent road mishaps. As per the official data, 283 fatalities were reported in the district in 2018, which came down to 253 till 30 November this year. This shows that issuing challans has had a positive impact. This year, only 4-5% of road deaths were due to drunken driving.”
When asked about the measures taken by the department, deputy superintendent of traffic police Guriqbal Singh said, “We set up at least two to three nakas to check drunken driving every week. We are well-equipped with the 52 breath analysers, out of which 41 are in a good working condition. I have noticed that to prevent their vehicles from getting impounded and paying fines, citizens have started preferring cabs or taxis, which is also an economic option for them. Most of the people who are challaned are outsiders.”