Underage drivers seek thrill on rural roads

Gearless scooters, which seem to have become a natural substitute for cycles, are the most popular among juveniles

February 26, 2015 08:37 am | Updated 01:03 pm IST

With the police and the Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) keeping a close lookout for underage drivers, they are now being spotted more in rural areas. On an average, 60 such cases are registered in the district in a month with the majority of them reported from places like Muvattupuzha, Perumbavoor and Kothamangalam. Recently, MVD officials intercepted a 14-year-old boy who was speeding along on a motorcycle. With helmets acting as an effective cover up, it’s not always easy for enforcement officials to detect the offence.

M.O. Sajan, Joint RTO, Muvattupuzha, said that areas adjoining educational institutions were kept under close vigil as they were more susceptible to underage driving.

He said that parents often did not treat the offence with the seriousness it deserved, making enforcement ineffective. Mr. Sajan recollected a recent incident of having summoned a mother after her juvenile son was caught driving her two-wheeler. “It turned out that the youngster was out on the bike with her consent. She took it very lightly and, in fact, made us feel guilty for taking action against her son,” he said.

Gearless scooters, which seem to have become a natural substitute for cycles, have emerged as the most popular among underage drivers. MVD officials treat instances of underage driving on par with an offence for licence-less driving. The offender and the vehicle are released only after the parents are summoned.

Playing fast and loose

Private bus employees have the uncanny knack of being on the wrong side of the law one way or another.

To compensate over-speeding and reckless driving, they tend to stop at some points much longer than usual, much to the irritation of passengers. This serves them twin purposes – for one, it helps them to maintain the punching time despite over-speeding for the most part of the trip besides helping to take in the maximum number of passengers.

Instances of squabbling between passengers and bus workers have become common over such prolonged halts seemingly for no apparent reason.

K.S. Baby Vinod, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Traffic West, said that such instances were rare within the city limits owing to strict enforcement. “We, however, have come across such incidents in the West Kochi areas and in all such cases, fines ranging between Rs. 100 and Rs. 500 is slapped on them,” he said.

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