on Monday. Picture by Ashok Sinha
Patna, Dec. 14: Policemen in plainclothes will soon be deployed outside schools and colleges to catch underage students who drive or those without valid licence or helmet. Action will also be taken against their parents.
Deputy inspector general of police (central range) Shalin has directed officers to initiate action against parents of minors found violating the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The drive was launched on Sunday.
"If they (minors) don't follow traffic rules, there are chances they won't respect the law of the land as adults," Shalin told The Telegraph on Monday. He said the idea behind penalising parents of minors found driving vehicles was to prod them to nip it in the bud. "Since minors are not mature enough, the responsibility of saving their lives rests on their parents," he said.
The DIG turned his attention to youth safety after seeing two young men battle for life following an accident on NH-31, which connects Patna with Nalanda, on December 4.
They were not wearing helmets. "Many students are seen riding bikes without helmets. At times they park their vehicles some distance from school to avoid inviting the wrath of school authorities," Shalin said. Police records say 1,319 people died and 1,812 others were injured in 3,463 road accidents in Patna between January 2013 and October 2015. On an average, three road accidents are reported on the city's roads every day.
In most cases, the victims are found not wearing helmets. Ashiana-Digha road, Jakkanpur-Sipara overbridge, Income Tax roundabout and Hartali mor have been identified as vulnerable accident sites.
In addition, 342 people were found driving under the influence of alcohol during the period. Of them, 97 lost their lives. While trucks and buses caused 1,243 accidents, tractors caused 253 accidents, a source in the state crime records bureau said.
Authorities said over 3,000 motorists have been penalised for violating traffic rules, especially driving without helmet, in the past 24 hours. Altogether Rs 3.83 lakh was realised as fine from them.
Even policemen have not been spared. On Monday, four policemen were found riding motorbikes without helmets near Kurji turning on the Gandhi Maidan-Danapur road. The DIG, who was monitoring CCTV cameras installed near Kurji turning, ordered action against them over wireless.
Additional policemen, including women, have been drawn from the police lines and deployed at strategic points. Around 150 CCTV cameras are operational in the city to keep an eye on road users.
Senior police officials have also adopted a "reward and punishment" strategy to deal with the men-in-uniform. On Monday, 32 policemen were rewarded for doing their duty well while 19 were punished for poor performance. The performance of 20 police personnel was found to be satisfactory.
Principals of several schools said they have taken several steps to check students from driving two-wheelers but none of them proved effective as the young always find loopholes. Meera Sharma, a housewife, said: "Parents will become more vigilant if they know they can land in legal trouble if their underage kids are caught driving."
Patna traffic superintendent of police Prantosh Kumar Das said imposing a fine on parents and sending them to jail can only happen in extreme conditions. "For a month, we'll appeal to parents (to rein in wards. If they don't do so, we will initiate legal action," he said.