Shun triple-riding or get ready to cough up Rs 1,000 as penalty from next week.

As the country observes Road Safety Week from January 9-15, Jamshedpur police are all set to nab triple-riders in a move to curb road mishaps and criminal activities like snatching and eve-teasing in the city.

City SP Prashant Anand said they would launch the drive against triple-riding on two-wheelers from next week with the help of traffic police department. The drive is, however, not part of the national Road Safety Week.

The city SP said those caught would be fined Rs 1,000 as per the Motor Vehicles Act.

"Though triple-riding is not permitted in the Motor Vehicles Act, it has been overlooked for long. We have seen that in most two-wheeler mishaps, victims were triple riding. Besides, in crimes like chain snatching and molestation, the accused are mostly triple-riders. While triple-riding, a kind of group psychology operates, especially among youths. They either tend to ride rashly, which causes accidents or commit petty crimes. We have therefore decided not to allow more than two persons on any bike or scooter," the city SP said.

Two teenagers were injured when the bike, they were triple riding, rammed into a stationary car on NH-33 in Mango on Sunday.

Earlier, three youths were seriously injured when their bike skidded off Tata-Hata Road in Potka on January 1.

A police officer recalled that in the 1990s, then SP Ajoy Kumar had instructed the officers in-charge of all the police stations to arrest those found triple riding.