Women can’t escape breathalysers anymore!
This is gender-equality, albeit differently. Women, who so far escaped breathalysers with the conventional belief that came to their rescue ‘ladies drinks maadalla’ (women don’t drink) at least in heritage city, has now suffered a jolt. The police have now learnt the ‘hard truth’ that women too, drink and drive.
After the incident that happened in the heart of the city on Saturday night, when three women were caught with alcohol content crossing the permissible limit of 29 mg/100 ml (amount of alcohol in blood), the police who usually allowed women drivers pass by without even stopping for a check, are now administering breathalyser tests. According to Dr Rajendra Prasad DCP (crime and traffic) these tests are bound to continue.
Breathalyser test is just an indicator of alcohol being present in the blood. Level of alcohol is known only through alcometer test. It is a huge revelation to know Mysore cops registered over 7,900 cases of drunken driving last year, and, this year the numbers are bound to shoot up.
The moment alcometer shows alcohol above permissable limit, the vehicle would be seized. Cops will then register a case and recommend the court to cancel the license of the person who is found to have committed the offence. With the number of hotels and bars sprouting in the city, Mysoreans sure seem to be loving all the good time and choices they have, but it is also apt time that they realised they have to enjoy it responsibly too!
Usually in cases of drunken driving, the police seize the vehicles. If the man/woman at the wheel is found to have one drink too many, beyond permissible limits, cops arrange for transportation and reach them home safely, or send a constable to drop them and bring the vehicle back for legal procedures. Then follows the process of filing a case and recommending that the person’s license be cancelled. “Women usually have not been flouting norms so far, in our city. Even if they enjoy a drink or two, they will usually have a designated driver or someone in the family would be at the wheels. But, certainly after Saturday’s episode, we will conduct a breathalyser check across the board,” said Prasad.
