One person was killed in Hyderabad on Friday after a speeding driver, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, rammed into an autorickshaw near the Hyderabad Public School (HPS) in Begumpet.
The police said that the car driver was speeding, and did not see the vehicle ahead slow down, to take a turn. The driver of the autorickshaw was killed on the spot.
The accused has been identified as Pavan Kumar alias Naveen Kumar, who works for a software company in Gachibowli, while the victim was identified as Rafiq.
The police said that Rafiq was a resident of Shapurnagar in the city's Jeedimetla area.
“The car hit the autorickshaw, when Rafiq slowed down at a diversion to take a turn. The auto turned on its side and the driver, who was alone, sustained grievous injuries and died on the spot,” the police was quoted as saying.
According to reports, the police subjected Naveen to a breath analyser test and his Blood Alcohol Count (BAC) was 126 mg/ 100 ml.
The permissible alcohol limit is 30 mg/100 ml of blood, i.e., 30 micrograms/100 ml of blood. Anything above that, as recorded by a breath analyser, would be considered drunken driving.
The Begumpet Police booked Naveen Kumar under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC and also charged him with drunken driving.
Despite several measures taken by officials, the city continues to face a problem with drunken driving. Statistics released by the Hyderabad Traffic Police said that 20,411 cases of drunk driving were booked in 2017, out of which 4,015 violators faced imprisonment.
On the New Year’s eve of 2018 alone, the Hyderabad Traffic Police booked a record 2,499 people for drunken driving during a special drive that was conducted across the city.
The police also said that they collected Rs 2.2 crore in fines for drunken driving in 2017.