15,253 driving licences face suspension in Bengaluru
Bengaluru city traffic police have sent a strong message to traffic rule violators. To deter motorists from reckless driving, popping wheelies, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving in the wrong way on one-way streets, the Bengaluru Traffic Police have recommended 15,253 motorist driving licence for suspension
Bengaluru: Here’s a message for those who take traffic rules lightly. Bengaluru Traffic Police have recommended the suspension of 15,253 driving licenses.
According to documents available with Asianet Newsable, out of 15,253 driving licences of motorists, 8,114 licenses is from East Traffic Division alone.
Dr KV Jagadish, DCP, Traffic East Division said, "Motorists involved in offences like dangerous driving which caused accidents resulting in injuries and death have been booked under IPC section 304(A) and their licenses have been immediately recommended for suspension. Apart from this, license of motorists caught popping wheelies, drag-racing, riding or driving the wrong way in one-way streets and drunk driving have been recommended to the transport department for suspension."
The traffic department rules are rather relaxed for first-time traffic offences like drunk driving, riding on the footpath who are get off by paying a fine. However, if the motorist is caught for the third time, his/her licence is impounded by traffic police and immediately sent to transport department for suspension.
Lauding this move of the traffic police for taking action against such offenders, Dr G Gururaj, head of the department of epidemiology, NIMHANS says, “Every day we see accident victims come in for treatment at NIMHANS, mostly for serious head injuries.”
"By recommending suspending licenses of traffic rule offenders especially for drinking and driving and performing stunts on the road, the police has sent a strong message that such offences cannot be taken lightly. Any motorist who takes risks on the road is also putting other’s lives at stake," said Gururaj.
He further added that the data mechanism is strong in the transport department, once the driving license is suspended, motorists cannot get a second license easily.
According to data from Bengaluru Traffic Police, In 2018, the department booked 53,092 people for drinking and driving, 98,497 for reckless driving and 79 in freewheeling cases.
In cases pertaining to drunk driving and reckless driving, licenses of only those motorists who were caught for the same offence more than thrice have been recommended for suspension.