Spike in traffic violations, dip in accidents in 2017
CHALLAN CENTRAL On an average, 17,158 were challaned daily in the first three months of 2017, as compared to 7,312 in 2016. Traffic police say prosecutions helped curb fatal accidents
The total strength of the Delhi Traffic Police has not witnessed any significant change over the recent months, but the prosecutions of traffic violators by them in the first three months this year have more than doubled compared to 2016.
With 14,92,549 challans issued already in the first three months of this year, the number of prosecutions is close to touching the half mark of 31,73,833 prosecutions in the 12 months of last year.
On an average, 17,158 traffic offenders were prosecuted daily from January 1 to March 28 in 2017, up from the 7,312 challans issued every day during the same period last year.
The increased prosecution has played a significant role in curbing fatal accidents, senior traffic police officers claim. A total of 284 accidents causing deaths have occurred this year, down from 412 in the same period in 2016. The previous year had left 1,591 people dead on Delhi’s roads, over 40% of them were pedestrians.
Senior traffic officers insisted that the increased prosecution was a reflection on their efforts to catch violators and did not mean that violations have gone up.
Ajay Kashyap, Special CP (Traffic), said the increased prosecution was a conscious effort by his department to check road mishaps. But the aim was more to instil fear in the minds of traffic offenders, rather than punish them.
“We had identified several spots and stretches on roads where prosecuting traffic offenders would leave an impact on other motorists passing by. So, we have prioritised the role for our personnel out on the roads and emphasised on prosecuting more offenders. With the limited resources we have, we want to ensure greater visibility of traffic personnel on roads,” said Kashyap.
From conducting surprise checks on roads to sometimes deploying traffic personnel even in the residential areas of the city, the traffic police are doing all in their means to increase their visibility, one of the priorities of the new police commissioner, Amulya Patnaik.
For over a year now, the traffic police have also been emboldened by the power to seize driving licences of motorists for five kinds of violations which include drunk driving, speeding, jumping traffic signals, using mobile phones while driving and carrying passengers in goods vehicles.