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Biker fined ₹17,500 for posting stunt videos
The youth, whose identity police didn’t reveal, was tracked down after videos of his stunts emerged on the social media platforms.
A 17-year-old boy has been fined ₹17,500 for performing stunts on motorcycles and posting the same on his social media in Bengaluru, police said on Sunday.
According to the police, multiple cases have been registered against him for riding the motorcycle without a helmet, shooting videos using a mobile phone on a moving vehicle and negligent driving.
The youth, whose identity police didn’t reveal, was tracked down after videos of his stunts emerged on the social media platforms. Some social media users also flagged these videos to the police, said a senior officer in the know of the matter.
Joint commissioner of police (traffic) BR Ravikanthe Gowda said, “Since the trend of uploading such dangerous trends online has become popular, the city traffic police have established a dedicated unit to keep a track of the social media platforms for such offenders.
“Designated teams were assigned the job of tracking this biker, following which his several videos emerged. The videos clearly showed that his stunts could be dangerous for other commuters. On the basis of the evidence found in his videos, we brought him in and booked him for all the offences under motor vehicles act. He was also asked to submit a ₹17,500 fine,” said Gowda.
The officer said that since the offender was a minor, the cases were booked against his parents
, who owned the two-wheeler. “We didn’t merely slap fines, but we had called the officials of the social welfare department also to counsel him,” he added.
However, the officer clarified that a person simply sitting on the bike and taking selfies won’t be penalised unless there is a movement. “There should be movement. For example, in this case, the minor had shot many selfies while riding the bike. We fined him for riding without a helmet and using his mobile phone while riding. He filmed himself while riding on main roads with other vehicles next to him, which is nothing but rash and negligent driving,” he said.
After the fine was levied on him, the boy uploaded another video narrating the whole incident and the price that he had to pay for his misadventures. A friend of his can be heard in the video saying, “Don’t post such videos on the social media, else you will face the heat.”
Senior officers said that until May 2022, 4,394 cases of reckless driving have been registered in Bengaluru. Apart from this, under special drives against those performing stunts on road, 69 cases have been booked. “We are conducting drives against people who are performing stunts as and when we get information from the public. But with most of them uploading their videos on social media, we are putting a good amount of effort to identify offenders using the internet,” said an assistant commissioner of police-ranked officer who didn’t want to be named.
