MP: Police start Field Sobriety Test to identify drunk and driving cases

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], March 8 : The police have started the Field Sobriety Test (FST) to identify people driving vehicle in an inebriate conditions in the state capital Bhopal, a police official said.
The initiative has been taken in view of the rise in road accidents cases due to driving in an intoxicated state.
Speaking to ANI, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Shrutkirti Somvanshi said, "Under this FSL test, the suspect has to walk on a straight white line for about 10 steps. If the legs of the suspect stagger then it makes clear that that person is in an intoxicant state."
"In many cases, it was seen that police identify the drunken suspect by smelling them. So, the FSL test is conducted to stop that- smelling process and it also gives more clarity about the suspects who were checked with a breath analyser. The benefit of this FSL test is that it almost confirmed that those who were brought to the police station were intoxicated," Somvanshi said.
After that their Challan is prepared with the report of the breath analyser test, he added.
Usually, it takes more time to conduct a breath analyser test of all the suspects. So, first those people are tested who failed in the FSL test. It brings clarity early and the whole process completes in less time, he added.
Nonetheless, it will be difficult to conduct FSL tests on the occasion of holi where a large number of people will be in an intoxicated state so only a breath analyser test will be done to identify the suspects, Additional DCP Somvanshi added.