[raul]

We have all the laws in India, implementation is where we fail hopelessly. Which cop will have the guts to do this to some heavy weight politicos son for example, more likely they will be consipring to save him. However this is a good step in raising awareness and Mumbai being slightly better than other places in terms of traffic, one hopes the newly empowered cops use this to clamp down hard on irresponsible and reckless nut cases.

Ultimately we are citizens of a grossly overcrowded city where people are compelled to sleep on pavements and roadsides and all drivers have an extra responsibility to drive that much more carefully.

[ashwin390]

Originally Posted by Sahil

GTO- I know there is a legal limit but how well is it implemented? Just the other day there was a discussion on the radio about how cops are using their noses as breathalyzers and passing judgements based on that.

If i remember correctly, a similar comment was made by the DCP (Traffic) on this on an interview on Radio City in Bangalore a year or so ago. The reason cited was that there was a shortage of breathalysers. As per what he said on the radio, traffic cops who did not have breathalysers used this method, in cases of suspected DUI. However, he also mentioned that in such cases, before charging / booking the offender, a proper test needed to be done to find out if the blood-alcohol level was above permissible limit. Am not sure if this is being done or not, but that is what the rules are.

However, if i understand correctly, since people charged with DUI need to be sentenced in court, proof has to be provided by the cops before sentencing. I believe this is done in order to prevent unnecessary harassment.

But keeping in mind that not all things are implemented as planned in India, i am not sure how well this is followed. Like i said, again, good enough incentive for people to stop drinking and driving.

[Amey]

A novel idea for sure, no doubt about that. How it will be implemented and how sincerely, remains to be seen.
Agreed that not all the cops are corrupt but then the most i have come across are, so....

[snaronikar]

C'mon guys.....Here in Bangalore this law has come into force around 5~6 years back itself and the cops are doing a pretty decent job in this field at least here in Bangalore.

[VBV]

Originally Posted by snaronikar

C'mon guys.....Here in Bangalore this law has come into force around 5~6 years back itself and the cops are doing a pretty decent job in this field at least here in Bangalore.

I think the law has been around at the national level for a long time. But a drive brings in more energy into implementing the law.

And yes, cops in Bangalore have been fairly okay at it.

I have an interesting and contradictory episode to narrate, though. A friend of mine was drunk (stable though) and was driving a small distance from the party place to his residence. In between a cop stopped him and asked him to open his mouth and say "Haah". My friend was afraid he would be caught, till he actually smelt the cop's "Haah". The cop was so drunk, that he could not catch my friend's alchohol. His own alchohol overpowered all other smells.

VBV

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by Sahil

GTO- I know there is a legal limit but how well is it implemented? Just the other day there was a discussion on the radio about how cops are using their noses as breathalyzers and passing judgements based on that.

Well, from what I've seen/experienced, they use their noses to shortlist you for the breathalyzer test.

Also, is there anyone else here who feels that we should have a 0-drink limit for driving?

OT: Wish there was a device like the breathalyzer to detect rash driving

[X-Machine]

Its a pretty commendable law. But we'll have to wait and see how long it lasts. I remember some 2 years back they had checkposts every night to keep a tab on drunk driving. It all fizzled out after a while. And now with the Independance Day coming up, it's only going to intensify. Lets hope this one lasts for long.

X

[spadival]

While judging DUI just by smelling may not be a good idea.. I think to expect to use Breath analyser for every case is a bit too much.. Even in developed countries, cops are allowed to use their judgment.

Driving under the influence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quote from wiki :
" Today's statutes commonly provide for two separate and distinct criminal offenses. The first is the traditional "drunk driving" offense, consisting of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Evidence to support this crime generally comes from the officer's observations (erratic driving, slurred speech, unsteady gait, etc.), performance on field sobriety tests, and a legal (and generally rebuttable) presumption of intoxication from a blood alcohol test result over the legal limit. The second offense is the more recent so-called "per se" offense: rather than focusing on impairment the crime consists entirely of having a given blood alcohol content (BAC) at the time of driving, regardless of the individual's tolerance to alcohol. Both offenses may be charged, and the defendant may be convicted of both; if a blood alcohol test result was not obtained, only the traditional "DUI" offense will be charged. "

[GTO]

Over the course of the last weekend:

- 200+ drivers booked.

- 60+ sent to Jail for between 1 - 10 days.

The Mumbai traffic police has placed an order for an additional 50 alcohol breathalysers.

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by GTO

..There is a legal limit. Click here for the numbers....

Limits by country (BAC: Blood Alcohol Content)

The alcohol level at which a person is considered to be legally impaired varies by country. The list below gives limits by country. These are typically BAC (blood alcohol content) limits for the operation of a vehicle.
.......
In India, the limit in blood is 30 mg/dL.[9]....

can some one explain this in regular english.

I mean, what does this mean in terms of quantity of say beer or whisky or rum or vodka or wine .......

[dadu]

Its the content(%) of alcohol in your blood, that is what measures the limit. The real dilemma is that this % might different for each person, although they would have consumed the same amount of alcohol.

On average it takes about one hour for your body to process one unit of alcohol. This varies depending on your body size, sex and the amount of food in your digestive system.

If your liver isn't functioning normally, the process takes longer. One unit of alcohol is roughly equivalent to half a pint(1 pint=480 ml) of beer, a 25ml (pub) measure of spirit, or two-thirds of a small (125ml) glass of wine. This means that one pint takes your body about two hours to break down, and a large glass of wine (250ml) about three hours - longer if the ABV (alcohol by volume) content is higher than average. So if you have seven pints during a night out, it could take as long as 17 or 18 hours to leave your system.

It's very important to think about how long it takes your body to process alcohol before driving. Even if you feel fine the day after drinking, you could still be over the limit.

But in one of the TV shows I saw the DCP of Bangalore quoting 1 to 2 small (30 ml) pegs of whisky max as a safe limit for most people.

Originally Posted by kkr2k2

can some one explain this in regular english.

I mean, what does this mean in terms of quantity of say beer or whisky or rum or vodka or wine .......

[VJ_MAVRICK]

I had an incident here in Bangalore though not directly involved ,as one of my friend in the car ahead was stopped for a BAC test ....poor chap we were hitting out to have though @ a friends place...the cop itself was drunk and how does one justify this ? this was around 11:30 PM last saturday and sure the queries we posed back @ annoyed him to the core.
But with some cop like him how difficult is it to lure him to bribe ?
These guys must first exercise the law for themselves ...felt strange though but ..this is India..what can i say?

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by jkdas

maybe they should keep a "limit",like they have in Western countries. Some drink for their health

It is a tonic for most people, not just a drink. Maybe it is better to walk back home after your tonic, that would be even more healthier.

Originally Posted by VBV

Agree with GTO. I've come across cops in Bangalore, who write a ticket even w/o going into any other mode. Not all cops are corrupt.

Yeah, not all cops are corrupt, i have had many brushes with straight cops. But do not take the writing ticket part too seriously to determine whether the cop is corrupt or not. If he is so quick to write a ticket, that is obviously to meet his target/deadlines. A straight cop would counsel you instead of booking you straightaway.
cheers

[lohithrao]

Great move, have seen cops having nakabandis at many places. esp during the weekends.

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

....
Yeah, not all cops are corrupt, i have had many brushes with straight cops. But do not take the writing ticket part too seriously to determine whether the cop is corrupt or not. If he is so quick to write a ticket, that is obviously to meet his target/deadlines. A straight cop would counsel you instead of booking you straightaway.
cheers

I have more than couple of such brushes with the traffic cops.

1. there was this parking space which mentioned single line parking but no-where it is mentioned the allignment, is it horizontally single line or vertically single line. I took some time to understand what this means, checked around for any lines, couldnt find them. Found other cars were parked horizontally, so I parked in the same way. When I return, i see a ticket on the wind shield of my car and all other cars, the traffic COP doesnt agree with us and instead says, we should be aware of it.... what a dumb thing.

2. This time it was at a traffic juntion, it was green light and half into the cross section, a RTC bus cuts across me from the left most lane as if it were to be a bike not a bus. I had stop in the junction and the light turned orange and a scooter jumps the signal and enters the junction, looking at him all other morons on bikes does the same thing and go infront of my car and in no time(4 sec.s) the light turns red. The traffic COP is immediately after the junction, was watching the entire thing and stops me and gives me a challan of 100/- !!!..... another dumb thing.

3. This time, I was technically wrong but had the traffic COP shown some consideration.
I got my indica from workshop after it had an accident, all fixed except the front number plate, as it was evening and late I went home rather than to the number plate wallah. Next day in the morning, I was going to the get the thing done, I was hardly 50 feet from the place where I can get the number plate, It was a junction, I stop on seeing a red, few people jump the signal as it was morning, I was taken aside by a traffic cop and bang! a challan of 100/-!!!.... (damn! I Should have also jumped the signal). I tried to explain to the traffic COP, that I got the car from the workshop and also showed him the bill but not willing to show some consideration.

P.S. I was once talking to one of my uncles(who is a police officer in the city). Why do the traffic cops act so dumb??? well with the reply i got, i was shocked!!!. They are not dumb, they have complete their targets. (60 challans a month, then)