Driving without helmet main traffic violation in Noida

Unauthorised parking, driving without helmet and driving on the wrong side topped the chart of traffic offences in Gautam Budh Nagar in the first five months of this year, shows data from the Noida traffic police

Unauthorised parking, driving without helmet and driving on the wrong side topped the chart of traffic offences in Gautam Budh Nagar in the first five months of this year, shows data from the Noida traffic police.

Noida, India- June 14, 2022: Commuters driving without helmet, According to data from the traffic police, driving without helmet, unauthorised parking and driving on the wrong side are among the top traffic offences in Gautam Budh Nagar. In just the first five months, traffic police have issued over two lakh challans , in Noida, India, on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (Photo by Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times) To go with Snehil’s story

“Unauthorised parking of vehicles along roads has always been one of our biggest concerns. The haphazard parking is not just dangerous for vehicles but also causes bottlenecks in many areas. This is why we are taking strict action for such offences, especially near market areas and such other places where illegal parking causes traffic jams,” said Ganesh Prasad Saha, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), Gautam Budh Nagar.

Talking about autorickshaws which indulge in unauthorised parking to pick and drop passengers, Saha said parking for autos has been regulated at five intersections and parking space has been created to let autos halt for picking and dropping passengers without interfering with traffic movement.

The DCP said driving on the wrong side is another major concern that the traffic police is working on. “While it is an engineering fault at some places, people have just created shortcuts for convenience at other places. However, of all traffic offences, it is one of the most dangerous ones and leads to accidents. In the last few months, we have been able to reduce it by blocking some of the exits and creating U-turns. We hope the new traffic management system will help reduce this menace,” said Saha.

Most traffic offences were recorded in April and May after CCTV cameras were installed at traffic signals and traffic police started wearing body-worn cameras. While 55,749 challans were issued for various traffic offences in May, the figure stood at 50,226 in April--much higher than the 28050, 32103 and 34898 challans issued in January, February and March, showed data available with the Noida traffic police.

While it is easier to issue challans for traffic violations, recovering the actual penalty has been difficult, admitted traffic officials adding that there are over 2.1 million challans issued in the district which have not been cleared yet.

Of the 200,000 challans issued this year, traffic police have been able to recover the fine amount from less than 30,000 traffic offenders so far.

Traffic officials said in many cases, people don’t even know that they have been penalized for a traffic offence till they get a court notice.

During the last few lok adalats, traffic police have been able to dispose several such pending cases. Within this year itself, around a 100,000 pending challans have been recovered, though the backlog is still high. “The lok adalats are helpful as it summons people to show up and pay the fine,” said a traffic police official.