Over 5L traffic violators booked in Navi Mumbai

Navi Mumbai traffic police have booked almost 5 lakh violators, over a lakh more than last year’s figures, as per data. Following the footsteps of their counterparts in Mumbai, police have tightened the noose with a crackdown on traffic rules violators. Moreover, in the last two years, Navi Mumbai traffic police have recovered fines worth Rs 13 crore.

In a crackdown on traffic rule violators, the Navi Mumbai Police had begun a crackdown on speeding vehicles, which often cause fatal accidents on the expressway and in city limits. Taking cue from the Mumbai Traffic Police (MTP), the Navi Mumbai counterparts started sending e-challans, while also physically issuing challans and recovering the fine amount from motorists. An official said, “Last year, we had fined over 4.07 lakh violators, however this year with better equipments and knowledge, we have fined 4.9 lakh violators, a jump of an impressive 83,000 more rule breakers.”

In a bid to create awareness, the Navi Mumbai traffic police had undertaken several campaigns, which allegedly fell on deaf ears. The most number of traffic violations were recorded for riding without a helmet, which attracted prosecution on 57,354 bikers. This year, the number has seen a substantial rise from the corresponding figure of 42,942 violations of helmet-less riding in 2018. Towards the end of last year, the honourable court of law had directed police to take stringent actions against traffic violators, which could act as a deterrent.

The other violation which was on the rise this year was drink-and-drive, said police. While only 949 cases of drunken driving were registered last year, in 2019, a whopping 2,995 cases were registered. To eliminate the fatal accidents caused by drunken driving, the Navi Mumbai Traffic police conduct nakabandis and check for the alcohol content using breath analysers on every check point in the city. Subsequently, police also raid the illegal parties that take place at farmhouses in the planned city.