School buses, cabs under police scanner

After giving lessons on road usage to rash drivers, Delhi traffic police is now focussing on the safety of ‘Generation Next’. Thousands of school buses and cabs are now under the scanner of traffic police.

After giving lessons on road usage to rash drivers, Delhi traffic police is now focussing on the safety of ‘Generation Next’. Thousands of school buses and cabs are now under the scanner of traffic police.

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As part of a drive it started on Monday, the Delhi traffic police, by Tuesday, prosecuted a total of 865 vehicles and impounded 96 vehicles that carry children to schools everyday.

They were prosecuted for overloading, speeding, driving without valid driving licences and dangerous driving.

The Delhi traffic police will continue the drive till Delhi gets respite from the menace, said Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of police (traffic).

“We will come down heavily on the buses and cabs that legally or illegally carry schoolchildren on a daily basis. We have noticed that school cabs, mainly Maruti vans, stuff 18 to 20 children in a cab, even though as per a Delhi government notification these eight-seaters can carry at the most 11 children. This menace puts thousands of children’ lives at risk, which cannot be tolerated,” said Garg.

Prosecutions mostly took place in areas in Central Delhi, New Delhi and South Delhi, informed traffic department sources.

Supreme Court has restricted the speed limit of all heavy vehicles to 40-km per hour in Delhi and directed all vehicles to ply in their designated lanes. The Supreme Court has also imposed a restriction on heavy vehicles overtaking any other moving vehicle and picking up passengers from other than bus stops.