Times of India: Nagpur: Tuesday, January 30, 2018.
Despite a
number of enforcement measures, traffic violations in the city are on the rise.
Heading the list is the youth brigade; in just a four-day drive outside
educational institutions in 2017, the city police penalized 2,942 students for
violating various traffic rules.
In a RTI
reply to Abhay Kolarkar, traffic police replied that during a special drive
outside some city colleges from August 26 to August 28, 2017, they booked 626
parents and vehicle owners for allowing their wards to violate traffic rules.
The police also detained 1,192 vehicles during the drive.
Though DCP
(traffic) Ravindrasinh Pardeshi was not available for comments, a senior
traffic cop said apart from penalizing youngsters, the department is also
focusing on launching an awareness drive for youngsters.
The traffic
police claim they are charging fines from underage students of Standard X and
XI for driving two-wheelers without licences and/or helmets. They are
penalizing parents too. "But this does not seem to be solving the problem,
as we do not see any improvement on the road," said traffic expert Vinay
Kunte.
"The
fine is paid by the parents and if they can afford to buy a two-wheeler for
their underage child, they can definitely pay the fine. After paying the fine,
the parents think that they have been absolved of all sins," he pointed
out.
"When a
two-wheeler is bought for the child, can the parents be expected to ask their
child to keep it at home and start riding a bicycle to school and all the
coaching classes? Will the children listen to their parents? Will it not be
considered too unfair on their part when all other underage children are
driving a big two-wheeler with impunity, without fear of traffic police?"
he asked.
High court
lawyer Anjan Chatterjee, who has filed many petitions pertaining to
deteriorating city traffic, said, "We are losing precious lives to callous
driving leading to accidents. Such accidents create a sense of grief and loss
just for one or two days in the city. No one is bothered to take corrective measures.
The tragedy that befell the Bhaskare family, when their 16-year-old son
Chaitanya rammed his gearless scooter into an autorickshaw, should have woken
up all concerned."
It can happen
to any parent with a kid driving a powerful, gearless scooter. The MV Act 1988
allows license for gearless two-wheelers to kids above age 16. This was to
enable them to drive 50cc mopeds, as upgrades from their bicycles. However, the
MV Act does not mention the engine capacity. Consequently, over the years,
powerful, gearless scooters with 125cc engines are commonly used by students.
"The
police beat marshals and traffic police jeeps and vans need to be authorized to
check traffic offenders in lanes and bylanes, and the not so important roads,
where traffic users usually take traffic rules casually. I have seen bikers
carrying helmets and wearing them just before they reach a known check
point," pointed out Chatterjee.
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