Sri Lanka in recent years has seen an increase in the number of women drivers – but the bad news now is that a growing number of these women are driving under the influence of alcohol.
Therefore, the police are to deploy women constables along with their male counterparts to have a check on female motorists driving under the influence of alcohol, the police spokesman said yesterday.
The move comes following a rise in complaints against drunk-driving women, who often get away owing to the absence of a female police officer needed to carry out a breathalyzer test, SSP Ranjith Gunasekera said.
The SSP said if a suspect female driver was arrested after dusk, she would be detained at the spot until the arrival of a woman constable who would be called in from the nearest police station.
Women police officers are usually not deployed for night duty unless on special occasions such as house searches, SSP Gunasekera said.
Meanwhile, in a related development the police for the first time are to hand out breathalyzer testing kits to all police checkpoints in the city and suburbs, enabling any officer to make an on-the-spot check of a suspected motorist, he said.
Earlier such a test had been carried out only by officers of the traffic branch, but now any police officer at the checkpoint could perform a breathalyzer test on a motorist, SSP Gunasekera said.
He warned that the police would be extra vigilant during the festive season after some 600 drunk drivers were nabbed over the past one month.
“The situation is worsening each day and it has to be contained as soon as possible. These drivers are not only endangering their own lives but the lives of others as well,” SSP Gunasekera said. | 
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