Shimla, Feb 20 (PTI) Use of alcohol while driving was found in 229 out of 1,000 blood samples sent to State Forensic Science Laboratory for chemical analysis, police said on Thursday.

The Traffic, Tourist and Railways (TTR) wing of the Himachal Pradesh Police monitored the road traffic accidents in the entire state in 2024 by analyzing the data of road traffic accidents and 1,000 samples taken during road accidents were sent to forensic lab for examination, a statement issued here said.

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As per the report, the contents of alcohol have been detected in 229 (about 25 per cent) samples. Driving under the influence of alcohol is a dangerous problem that needs to be addressed and, therefore, research to overcome this problem is being conducted by the state's TTR wing.

The police are also taking legal action against the violators (drunken driving), the statement said, adding that in case of violations by the government drivers, the information will be sent to the head of the concerned department to initiate a departmental action, said a police department spokesperson.

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If a person, having been previously convicted for drunken driving, has again committed the same offence, the competent authority will be instructed to cancel the violator's driving license held by the violator.

Now, the police will prosecute the offenders to seek imprisonment as prescribed under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, even for the first offence of drunk driving.

In this regard, the superintendents of police (SPs) of all districts have been directed by the Police Headquarters to prepare a data bank of repeat offenders of drunken driving who will further submit the same to the state's TTR wing.

Road safety is an issue of great concern across the world. Thousands of people die every year due to road traffic accidents. There are many causes of road traffic accidents like dangerous driving, over speeding, driving without license, poor road engineering and driving under the influence of alcohol, the statement said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)