1,660 violators fined and counselled in 13 days on Mumbai-Pune E-way

The RTO has planned a six-month-long awareness drive for the first time on the highways termed Suraksha starting December 1. As part of this drive, RTO has recorded 34% violations of lane cutting on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and 45% violations of driving without a seatbelt on the Old Mumbai-Pune highway

Mumbai: Around 1,660 vehicle owners were fined and counselled by the Regional Transport Office (RTO) from December 1 to 13 in the first few days of the Suraksha campaign held on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

1,660 violators fined and counselled in 13 days on Mumbai-Pune E-way

The RTO has planned a six-month-long awareness drive for the first time on the highways termed Suraksha starting December 1. As part of this drive, RTO has recorded 34% violations of lane cutting on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and 45% violations of driving without a seatbelt on the Old Mumbai-Pune highway.

There are 1,299 violations that have occurred on Mumbai Pune Expressway and 361 violations recorded on the Old Mumbai-Pune highway or NH 48 in the last 13 days. On both highways, 12 squads have been formed collectively, each squad has 15 officers who after finding violators will counsel them and make the drivers sign a pledge on following road discipline.

Bharat Kalaskar, deputy commissioner, Road Safety department, Transport, said, “We make the violators answer a questionnaire on road safety and show them a film on road safety awareness. After the violators take a pledge to follow rules, they are given a certificate for completing the counselling. The counselling is being conducted at Khalapur and Urse toll nakas.”

RTO officials are checking for speeding, lane cutting, driving without a seatbelt and wrong-side parking. The least violations of wrong-side parking have been reported at 17% on Mumbai-Pune Expressway and 13% on Old Pune Highway. Parking on highways itself is a violation, wrong side parking offences include parking vehicles without any valid reason on Expressway or national highways that is causing an accident-prone situation on the spot.

According to officers, if one tire is on the road and the other down the road, vehicles parked at junctions or corners can pose danger for other road users and parked vehicles not surrounded by reflective cones cause danger at night for other vehicles, including wrong side parking violations.

Most violations were caught by the Pimpri Chinchwad squad at 711 with most fined for driving without a seatbelt and speeding. Meanwhile, the squad in Pune fined and counselled 248 violators for lane cutting, this is the greatest number of instances of lane cutting in the last 13 days.

Vivek Bhimanwar, the transport commissioner, said, “All commuters on the Mumbai-Pune Highway should follow road safety norms and cooperate with the ongoing Suraksha campaign.”

According to the RTO, more than 80% of accidents occur due to driver negligence, irresponsible behaviour and disobeying traffic rules. RTO has identified black spots and accident-prone areas on highways where they will put up posters of accidents that have taken place to alert those driving to maintain speed.