Parents letting their minor kids drive are being arrested Break rules, get jailed: Traffic police Penalty forces people to take rules seriously
Gone are the days when people would get away with mere challans and petty cases for misbehaving or not carrying necessary documents with them. Due to a strict crackdown by law enforcement authorities, public servants, commuters and even parents are being awarded jail terms for these violations.
An autorickshaw driver served eight days in jail after a brawl with a female passenger, an incident touted as a first by road safety experts. There was a time when, if one paid a challan for not carrying documents, he could just show that slip and carry on if stopped elsewhere. Times have changed and immediate, stringent action is taken and one can even expect jail time, said a senior official from Hyderabad police.
“The response from the commuters after the strict implementation of rules is encouraging”, said the Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar.
“The purpose of our exercise is to bring a new and improved road culture in the city. We are one of the most vibrant and modern cities where, on the one side, we have the historic Charminar and, on the other, the iconic modern IT tech field, a diversity which does not exist in any other big city in India. Our endeavour is to make it a truly international mega city and therefore, the standard of road culture, safety and quality of life has to match the best in the world.” Mr Kumar told this newspaper.
On April 1, a 32-year-old woman boarded an autorickshaw at Nampally to go home. On the way, she asked river J. Amar Singh to take a different route and he started abusing her.
Afzalgunj inspector P. Gnanendar Reddy said that when she questioned his tone, he misbehaved with her. She lodged a complaint with the police. When he appeared in the Third Special Metropolitan Magistrate Court to pay the fine, the court announced eight-day imprisonment for his bad behaviour towards the woman passenger as he was a public servant.
“There has been an improvement because of the awareness created and action taken by the officials. Many commuters now wear a helmet and follow rules,” Mr Kumar said.
“A penalty of `500 was slapped on the parents under Section 180 of the Motor Vehicle Act. In February itself, 45 parents were jailed and 1,079 cases were registered as part of the traffic police’s campaign to curb driving by minors,” said a senior official of the Hyderabad traffic police. Following this, 191 cases were booked against minors on a single day, while four parents were sentenced to prison at the time. The drives were being conducted in Hyderabad’s old city area, especially near colleges.
In March, a magistrate court sent 10 parents to prison for a day for letting their minor children drive. In what was reported to be a first, a 14-year-old was also sentenced to remand for one day in a juvenile home. In yet another incident on April 7, six riders were sentenced to four days for taking the wrong route in Bachupally. “People convicted for drunk driving will face difficulties while applying for government jobs, passport and visa clearance.” said DCP, Traffic Hyderabad, L.S. Chauhan. Not every case of misbehaviour by a public servant is taken to the police or the media, but higher officials make sure that they pay. “Earlier, misbehaviour cases had gone to the extent of a police case under sections of MV Act or IPC, but imprisonment is something we’ve never heard of before,” said Mr M. Vinod Kanumula, chief functionary of the Indian Federation of Road Safety. There has been a significant change in the number of bikers wearing helmets after the penalty system kicked into effect recently.
“The penalty system has made the bikers wear the headgear but hope the authorities make a rule for the pillion riders and make them follow it as well,” Mr Kanumula added.
In a new report furnished by the road safety and railways department of Telangana state in March, it was revealed that road accidents had reduced by 2 per cent in 2017 as compared to 2016, and 617 lives were saved during the year.
Accident severity — number of persons killed for 100 accidents — also gradually reduced from 34.4 in 2014 to 33.5 in 2015, 31.4 in 2016 and 29.4 in 2017.
It increased from 28.5 in 2014 to 31.4 in 2016 in the rest of the country.
Dr Kamal Soi, road safety expert of the National Road Safety Council praised the Hyderabad police initiative.
“Enforcement is the key to road safety and accident prevention. The conviction taken up by the law is really appreciative. One can easily say that road safety wise, Hyderabad will be a safer city to live in,” said the expert.