Who says alcohol checks is moral policing?

It's probably the only time a cop will ask you to 'blow' without smiling. But stopping you on Chennai roads after hours and subjecting you to a breathalyzer test is not even close to "moral or social policing", says an indignant Sanjay Arora, Additional Commissioner of Police - Traffic, CCTP. "We are not against drinking in the least, but we believe that when it crosses a limit, it has to be regulated," he reasons. While it is irrefutable that the last thing that anyone leaving a party would want is to be accosted by a bevy of policemen who are convinced that you're DUI (Driving Under the Influence), the consequences of letting you off are far worse, say cops. "Not only will it be charged as culpable homicide these days, it can pretty much be the biggest mistake you have made in your life," says Arora and adds, "And the life of whoever you happen to hit."And while there hasn't been a massive spurt in the number of drunken driving cases registered, the numbers haven't really gone down either admits Arora, "It's a problem that has been ever present and we have realized that it has been hovering around the same mark for the past three years." After briefly dropping to 10599 cases in 2010, the number has risen fractionally to over 11000 last year.Thankfully, when compared to other metros, Chennai has been lucky with the number in that column of the table - "The number of people who have been fatally killed in drunken driving cases was around 15 last year," he reveals but is quick to add that the number of injuries registered and "borderline grevious injuries" are on par with other metros. A cause for concern though is the fact that though we are only into the third month of 2012, 4 persons have been fatally killed due to drinking and driving. With all the increased checking have the results begun to show? Arora is supremely confident, "It will."