Traffic violations on New Year Eve double over last year

New Delhi: Traffic violations in the national capital on New Year's Eve this time were double as compared to the last year, police said on Sunday.

Senior police officials attribute the increased number of challans to a stricter vigil and 'zero tolerance attitude' by police.

This time around, a total of 13,260 traffic tickets were issued for various violations including drunk driving and over-speeding as against 6,486 last year.

Interestingly, the proportion of drunk driving has come down this year, and so have the cases of over-speeding.

While last year, police penalised 887 out of total 6,486 people for drunk driving, this time the figure is 889 out of 13,260). Last year, 335 people were penalised for over-speeding but this year, only 78 people.

Two-wheeler users were among the top violators as the maximum number of traffic tickets this year (4,022) were handed out for riding without helmet as against last year's 730, while 414 were issued for triple riding.

"We tried to make the best possible arrangements to curb instances of drunk driving, over speeding and other traffic violations by the revellers. We also made elaborate arrangements to ensure smooth flow of traffic, as the volume of traffic was quite high," Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ajay Kashyap told IANS.

He said that around 2,500 men were deployed, of whom as many as 1,300 were kept in and around Connaught Place and India Gate.

Police had identified 14 sensitive points in central Delhi where the deployment was high.