The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Trucks that are loaded with threats

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Friday, Feb 08, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Trucks that are loaded with threats

L. Srikrishna

The rising number of heavy vehicles running on city roads causes concern

CHENNAI: The rising movement of heavy vehicles inside and along the peripheries of the city’s roads is causing concern to many road users.

The long trucks or trailers pose threats to motorists, especially two-wheeler riders, along many stretches such as the Poonamallee High Road, Maduravoyal and GST Road.

Rash driving

According to the police, fatal cases involving heavy vehicles and two-wheeler riders were mostly reported on these stretches, where the drivers indulged in rash driving.

On Wednesday morning, the usually busy Poonamallee High Road was choked with traffic for over four hours due to the ‘mechanical failure’ in a truck from Andhra Pradesh.

Public put to hardship

Though the traffic police said there was no accident and that it was a mechanical defect, the bottleneck came in for severe criticism as public were put to untold hardship. The authorities should not have permitted the lorry as it had excess load, motorists said.

An officer of the Regional Transport Authority said that trucks entering into the city from neighbouring States like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are screened at the check-posts at the entry points.

Violators to be fined

Any vehicle found violating the registered laden weight capacity would be imposed a fine of Rs 1000 per tonne.

In rare cases, drivers who were familiar with the alternative routes, indulged in avoiding the check posts and thus escaped from the eyes of the authorities, he said.

A Transport Department official said that apart from verifying the log book, the authorities checked the fitness certificate (FC) of the vehicles, particularly, those operating with national permits.

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