432 fined in two days for driving on wrong side, say traffic police
GURUGRAM: At least 432 people were fined till Saturday for driving on the wrong side, during the road safety drive launched by the Gurugram traffic police on Friday to reduce accidents in the city, said the officials on Sunday.
Wrong-way driving is a major issue in the city, even on the U-turn flyovers at Shankar Chowk and Iffco Chowk, which have been constructed and designed solely for unidirectional traffic. Ravinder Singh Tomar, DCP (traffic), said that the road safety drive has been introduced with a focus on key spots such as Rajiv Chowk, Hero Honda Chowk, Golf Course Road, Vikas Marg, Netaji Subhash Marg, Sohna Road, and Sector 30/31 dividing road among other stretches where traffic violations are rampant.
Around 15% of the road fatalities in the city happen due to wrong-way driving, said the traffic police officials. “With the help of feedback from the traffic police marshalls on ground, as well as through analysing data on road accidents, we observed that wrong-way driving at various points in the city has taken many lives. So, we have started an indefinite road safety drive to keep a check on drivers and reduce such traffic violations across the city,” said Tomar.
Out of the total 432 fines issued for wrong-way driving in two days, 255 were issued on Friday and 177 on Saturday. The traffic police will tabulate such cases on Monday for Sunday. Tomar said that the drive will be conducted at least once every month, until the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) completes its project on installing CCTV cameras on 90 key stretches in the city, which will help in monitoring all traffic violations 24x7. An e-challan will be generated against an offender immediately.
Sewa Ram, an urban transport systems design expert and faculty member of School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), Delhi, said, “Visible prosecution has a bigger psychological impact, and deters drivers from traffic violations. A check on wrong-way driving is much needed. Enforcement over a sustained period is an effective solution to counter the violations.”