With the mindless use of high-beam lights by automobiles becoming a common nuisance in Kochi, the traffic authorities have launched a special drive to check the menace in the city. The special drive, conducted on a biweekly basis, has thrown up an interesting fact that tilts the scale towards the car drivers.
Of the vehicles booked for using high-beam lights at night along the Karukutty-Kumbalam and Angamaly-Muvattupuzha stretches of the MC Road, a majority of them were high-end cars, according to MVD officials. And to match the status of these premium violators, the officials often upgrade their offence to dangerous driving and charge a higher amount as fine.
“What one fails to understand is the excessive and continuous use of high beam where there is a constant flow of traffic. And add to it the fact that most of these roads are well lit,” they said.
Officials are of the view that it is an attitude problem if motorists do not dim their headlights even on roads that are well lit. Next to over-speeding, headlight glare is one of the primary causes for accidents. Apart from temporarily blinding a motorist, repeated exposure to glare can also result in eye fatigue which leads to an accident, they say.
Drag racing back?
Young brats seeking that tantalizing rush of adrenaline are back on the city roads.
After a hiatus, snazzy new super bikes have once again begun to turn the roads into playgrounds in the night. However, the bikers appear to have changed the pattern of hitting the roads this time – they are doing it individually rather than in groups while cutting short the course of ride. This time, bikers are taking the short stretches along the National Highway between Kumbalam and Kalamassery.
The authorities maintain that the proliferation of sports bikes have made it difficult for them to identify the individual racer on the road. “We are still on high alert when it comes to illegal racing in the city,” they say, while adding that the existing laws are minimal and hardly a deterrent.
