Karwar: With an increase in the number of death cases due to road accidents in the district, the Police Department has decided to strictly implement the traffic laws proposed and enacted by the Central cabinet recently.
The Union Cabinet on 24 June, approved the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill that proposes hefty penalties for violation of traffic laws, in terms to prevent the violations of traffic rules and to decrease the number of road mishaps.
The district police are strictly following the new traffic rules and sending recommendations to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) for the cancellation of driving licence of those violating the norms.
The number of proposals are increasing day by day, as a large number of people are violating the rules.
As the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill has made some significant changes to the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 (which in itself is a revised one). Under the new Bill, the fines for drunk driving or driving after being disqualified have been sharply increased from Rs 500 to Rs 10,000.
The police are penalising and booking the auto drivers who ferry an exceeding number of school children in autorickshaws, people who ride bikes while talking over mobile phones, drink and drive, ferrying people in goods vehicles, and other cases are being booked.
In addition, not giving way to emergency service vehicles such as ambulances, fire services or police vehicles will entail a stiff penalty of Rs 10,000. This provision was not there in the earlier Act.
Speaking to DH, Superintendent of Police Vinayak V Patil said, a large number of people indulged in drink and driving.
In this regard, a total of 370 cases were booked in May at various police stations in the City. A proposal was sent to the RTO seeking cancellation of their driving licences and also sought cancellation of registration of the vehicle, who do not have licenses, he added.
The driving licenses of as many as 71 people have been cancelled for three months, for riding vehicles violating the road safety rules under the limits of Karwar-Ankola. 50 driving licenses have been cancelled in June and from July 1 to 5, 21 people have lost their driving license and notices have been sent to many others, said Karwar Transport Department Regional Officer Vishal.
CCTV surveillance cameras are helping the coastal police in identifying the riders and their vehicles, who violate the rules. Along with the cameras installed by the Police Department and cameras installed in local shops, in front of hotels, malls and public premises are helping the police to catch the violators at the earliest. Hence, they are issuing notices to the violators by sitting in the police stations and checking the CCTV cameras.