Fasten that helmet strap! The cops are watching
The Chandigarh police issued more than 18,500 challans to two-wheeler riders for not fastening helmets straps, till September 30 this year, as compared to just three in the January-September period last year. Overall, too, the number of challans issued for traffic violations has gone up, and the fine amount, thus, spiked from `4.9 crore to `6.6 crore.
The Chandigarh police issued more than 18,500 challans to two-wheeler riders for not fastening helmets straps, till September 30 this year, as compared to just three in the January-September period last year. Overall, too, the number of challans issued for traffic violations has gone up, and the fine amount, thus, spiked from `4.9 crore to `6.6 crore.
The trend is largely being attributed to more stress on offences that were taken lightly earlier. For instance, for driving with high-beam headlight, the number went up from just 44 last year to 1,509 this year. For red-light jumping, the number doubled.
In all, challans were issued for various offences to 1.4 lakh people in January-September 2012, while the number this time is 1.8 lakh. The count of offences is 2.2 lakh this year, compared to 1.7 lakh last year. Vehicles impounded this year have also doubled, primarily due to stringent measures to check drunken driving.
UT inspector general of police (IGP) RP Upadhyaya said, "The number of challans has seen a surge as stress is being laid on enforcement."
DRIVE ON
The UT traffic police conducted a special drive on October 16 against two-wheelers, in which 570 vehicles were challaned.
Lane driving challans down: More awareness or lax enforcement?
The number of challans for lane change witnessed a decline, from 600 in January-September 2012, to around 250 this time. As such, the number of motorists challaned for riding two-wheelers without helmet also went down - from 34,000 last year to 31,000. Police claim that awareness about not halting the cars on zebra crossings also helped, an offence for which around 7,000 people were challaned this year as against about 19,000 last year.
OFFENCE CHALLANS ISSUED
Jan-Sept 2012 Jan-Sept 2013
Without helmet 33,567 30,920
Helmet unfastened 3 18,652
Red-light jumping 18,059 30,164
Without seatbelt 8,170 13,387
Speeding 12,591 14,098
Drunken driving 3504 3,529
Wrong side turn 10,497 17,443
Wrong number plate 1,329 4,602
High-beam headlight 44 1,509