Traffic authorities, who boasted of hand-held breathalysers to trap drunk drivers until a few months ago, have once again been forced to resort to the traditional method of catching offenders — smelling their breath —thanks to the technical glitch they are encountering with the alcohol meters.
On March 26, Metropolitan Traffic Police Division had obtained 150 China-made digital breathalysers for its 29 units in the Valley to crack down on drunk-driving. It was accurate and more effective and allayed the concern of on-duty traffic cops that they could get infected with respiratory diseases after inhaling the breath of vehicle drivers.
Of the 150 breathalysers, only 30 are working. An official at Nepal Police Headquarters blamed the breakdown of the breathayser to lack of basic knowledge among traffic cops on how to handle the device. “It is learnt that many traffic cops used to insert drinking straws to the device instead of the disposable mouthpiece of the breathalyser for testing alcohol intake.
