₹8.05crore recovered from traffic violators in past four months, higher than between January and July

According to traffic officials, the number of deaths in road accidents from January to November has dropped as compared to last year

The Gurugram traffic police recovered a total of ₹8.05 crore in fines from traffic violators in the city from August to November, more than ₹5.6 crore recovered from violators from January to July this year, police said on Tuesday. Violations included wrong side driving, drink driving, driving without helmet or seatbelt, speeding and not following lane driving.

Vehicles on the Delhi-Gurugram expressway with lights on due to poor visibility in foggy weather, in Gurugram on Tuesday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

Virender Singh Sangwan, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), said, “The fine for wrong side driving has been increased to ₹5,500 from ₹500. This is a big problem in the city. Commercial drivers commit the most traffic felonies, and cause the most accidents. We are trying to curb it.”

The ‘drunk and drive’ checking was restarted in the city from August this year, he added. “It was stopped during the pandemic. Teams catch drunk drivers throughout the week but special teams are deployed on the weekends,” he said.

According to traffic officials, the number of deaths in road accidents from January to November has dropped as compared to last year. The hefty fines, enforcement drives and awareness campaigns involving schoolchildren may have been able to save a few lives, Sangwan added.

As many as 360 people died in road accidents till November in Gurugram, down from 374 last year. The DCP said there has been a drop of 19% in deaths of two-wheeler drivers from January to November as compared to 2021.

“Last year, 179 people riding two-wheelers died till November while this year, 145 such people lost their lives,” he said.

Officials said Bilaspur, Farrukhnagar and Manesar are the areas where the most road accidents and road accident deaths are reported.