Police explore leg-cuffs for unruly drunk drivers

AUTHORITIES are toying with the idea of leg-cuffing drunk drivers who become violent, the traffic police chief said yesterday.

“Many drivers react. They don’t accept the (breathalyser) test, they don’t accept being booked and they create problems,” Demetris Demetriou said.

On Sunday, the passenger of a car whose driver had been stopped for a breathalyser test assaulted officers and damaged two police vehicles.

Demetriou said the force’s leadership was exploring the leg-cuff option for those who who react violently.

“Drivers and passengers will be warned and if they don’t comply we will apply leg-cuffs to protect them, the officers and police property,” Demetriou said.

The traffic chief struck a note of caution over the increasing rate of drink driving.

“It looks like driving under the influence of alcohol has taken worrying proportions in our country,” he said.

Police conducted 2,341 checks over the weekend, booking 191 drivers driving under the influence.

“One in 12 drivers had alcohol in their blood,” Demetriou said.

From the beginning of the year, police breathalysed 130,968 drivers reporting 8,151.

Demetriou said in the past three years – 2007, 2008, 2009 – driving under the influence is the number one cause of deadly accidents.

Five accidents over the weekend involved drink driving, Demetriou said.

In one case, a motorist drove the wrong way down the motorway, colliding with an oncoming vehicle.

Last week, a driver was clocked doing 231kph under the influence.

Yesterday another driver, who was caught doing 195kph failed to stop when an officer flagged him down.

He was subsequently intercepted and breathalysed, recording 46 milligrams. The legal limit is 22 milligrams.

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