The Goa government has approved the purchase of alcometers worth Rs 36 lakh for the police department. The Government also plans to make bar owners responsible and to inform police if any person, in a highly drunken state, leaves their premises. It is a fact that drunken driving is a prime cause of road accidents, many of which end in fatality. As per statistics in 2017, there were 346 road deaths many of which were related to drunken driving. In order to save lives the government has directed police to be stricter while checking drunken driving. Given the fact that of late several persons have been caught carrying drugs, drug abuse is obviously a serious problem facing the state. There could also be instances of individuals high on drug driving a vehicle. It must be said that a person behind the wheels who is high on drugs could be equally, if not more at risk of involving in a road accident, than someone who is drunk. This is so since a person high on drugs may not have total control of the senses. The question to be asked is whether there is a device available whereby the police can check if the driver of a vehicle has consumed drugs just like we have the aclometer to check the level of alcohol in the driver? If not, shouldn’t there also be a method in place to check if a driver is high on drugs? Such a check seems necessary specially, along the coastal belt.
ADELMO FERNANDES, Vasco
