Telangana Police adopt ‘name and shame’ for drunken driving

Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, January 19

Telangana Police have adopted a name and shame policy to contend drunken driving.

Not only are motorists caught under drunk driving jailed for 1-4 days, but they also have to endure the additional ignominy of police writing to their companies’ Human Resources (HR) departments about their act.

The police say that the reason for writing the letters was to ensure that people were shamed into adhering to traffic safety rules.

“Our intention is not to embarrass people, but to sensitise all employees about the danger in driving vehicles in an inebriated condition,” says Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyberabad Traffic) S M Vijay Kumar.

The letter mentions that the person was detained under influence of alcohol and sent to prison for a certain number of days. It also contains an advisory that it should be shared with other employees, along with the information that alcohol levels of over 30mg per 100ml of blood would invite a similar action on others. Additionally, they risk their vehicles being impounded for 10 days.

A person caught drunk driving must also undergo counseling with spouse or parents, and gets a negative entry on the driving license.