The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Steady rise in traffic law violations

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 22, 2006
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Steady rise in traffic law violations

M. Srinivas

15.36 lakh violations reported till August 31; penal amount touches Rs 10 crores

CRACKDOWN: Traffic police booking helmetless riders and other traffic offenders at Khairatabad. — Photo: Satish H.

HYDERABAD: A staggering 15.36 lakh traffic law violations have been reported up to August 31 in the twin cities, netting a penal amount of more than Rs.10 crores! The number of offences not only exceeded last year's figures by a clear four lakh cases but are also almost double the number recorded in 2004!

Driving without a helmet was the most common offence on Hyderabad roads followed by signal jumping and parking vehicles in no parking zones. Among the violators, a majority were students and educated persons. On an average, over 8,000-odd violations were reported every day in the twin cities.

Cases rising steadily

According to traffic police statistics, 15.36 lakh cases were registered in 2006 so far under the Motor Vehicle Act, compared to 11.75 lakh cases in 2005 and 8.46 lakh cases in 2004. "Going by the number of violations, we may cross the 16 lakh-mark and more within four months," a traffic police official seeking anonymity said. Traffic police attribute the reasons for the steep rise in number of violations to motorists' `casual approach' towards law. Motorists believe that the problem could be tackled by shelling out the fine amount. A two-wheeler rider can easily `escape' by paying a fine of Rs.50 if he was booked for jumping a signal. But the rider would not think about the problem to be faced by a motorist coming from the other direction. Sometimes, it might lead to a ghastly road accident, the official added.

Despite educating people on various advantages of wearing helmet, motorcyclists continue to ignore them. Of the 15.36 lakh cases, 3.09 lakh cases were registered against two-wheeler riders for not wearing helmet.

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