Mumbai behaved itself on New Year's Eve, almost

Mumbai traffic police's 'Safe Celebration Campaign' initiative in the week prior to New Year's Eve, undertaken to curb instances of drink driving during the year-end revelry, bore fruit. No major untoward incidents or cases of rash driving were reported on the road on the day.u00a0

In fact, there was a markdown in the numbers related to cases of driving while intoxicated. The police registered 739 such instances on the night of December 31, compared to last year's 860.

Saturday's traffic drive, which began at 10 pm and ended at 6 am on Sunday, focussed on 75 traffic points across the city, where policemen armed with breathalysers checked motorists for alcohol consumption beyond the permissible limit.u00a0In all, 511 two-wheeler riders and 179 four-wheeler drivers were found to have consumed more than the legal limit.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Brijesh Singh said, "Our campaign to crack down on drink driving has been successful as we could prevent any instance of accidents and injuries on the night of December 31, given the huge number of people and motorists who are out on the road on this particular day."

The east zone (Mahim, Matunga, Trombay, Chembur, Ghatkopar, Vikhroli and Mulund) recorded the maximum number of cases ufffd 241. Whereas south zone (Colaba, Kalbadevi, Tardeo, Pydhonie and Wadala) recorded the least number of cases ufffd 83. Out of the 739 offenders caught, 436 were in the age group 18-30, and 200 were driving without a licence.

In the weeklong campaign, a total of 1,902 cases of drink driving were registered by the traffic police. Of these, 499 drivers were found to be driving without a licence.u00a0DCP Nisar Tamboli, said, "Whatever happened is good and we hope it continues in the coming years. It's a joint effort on behalf of the police department as well as the common public that everyone behaved in a civil manner."