Udupi: Superintendent of Police Nisha James has said that special drives have become inevitable to check traffic violations of all kinds.

"The police department is embarking on innovative programmes to check violations and also to prevent accidents which leads to loss of lives," she told DH.

Elaborating on the traffic congestion during peak hours which leads to traffic violations, the SP said the phenomena of traffic congestion cannot be eased by constructing bridges or by widening the roads. "It is necessary to integrate technology system with transportation management for realising hassle-free traffic," she added.

The SP said the special drives have been categorised under different violations and actions have been taken accordingly. On slapping a heavy fine amount, the public will think twice on committing the violations. Thus, the department has launched special drives to tackle problems, like speed driving/riding, shrill horns, overload, irregularities in the headlights, not wearing helmets/seat belts, wrong side driving/riding, parking irregularities and others.

The special drives were initially started on the highways. In the coming weeks, the initiative will be extended to stretches under city and town limits, she said. 

The special drives, launched from March, includes drunken driving (459 cases up to June), 817 cases are registered during the drive against shrill horns. 504 cases are registered for the usage of mobile phones while driving/riding. The huge number of cases, 1,90,006, were registered for not wearing helmets.

As many as 737 cases were registered for overspeeding. A special drive was conducted in June for not wearing seatbelts and already 4,135 cases were registered within a month. The special drives will continue and simultaneously awareness will be created on traffic violations. Besides, the police also conduct special drives for Matka (67 cases reported) and gambling (16 cases) respectively, she explained.

From June 20 to July 15, the district police were involved in intercepting goods vehicles found transporting more people. In 25 days, 111 cases were registered against the goods vehicles and 58 against the autorickshaws (for carrying more children). "The special drive against traffic violations will continue," she asserted.