The Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) has begun issuing memo of charges to those caught on camera for red light violations.
The surveillance and speed detection cameras have been installed at busy junctions in the capital as part of the Rs.5.03-crore ‘intelligent' enforcement automation system.
The despatch of the memo of charges through registered post began on Saturday at the office of the Zonal Deputy Commissioner functioning in Trans Towers, the headquarters of the Motor Vehicles Department in the capital. The memo listing the offence will reach the addressee on Monday onwards, a top MVD official said.
The erring motorist can remit the penalty at any office of the MVD in the State by presenting the memo of charges. This has been done as vehicles caught on the cameras need not be registered in the capital district alone. Those who want to contest the charges can do so and they can view the video. “All class of motor vehicles are being booked and vehicles from other States have not been exempted. The memo will be sent to the address of the registered owner collected from the data base,” the official said.
Staff shortage
Although the automation system went on stream on August 9, the department was unable to send the memo of charges to the erring motorists owing to lack of staff in the department.
The number of erring motorists was also on the higher side with 1,350 cases detected on the first day.
Subsequently, about 1,000 violations on an average daily are caught on camera.
“The department did not anticipate the large-scale of violations. The lack of staff to despatch the memo of charges was another problem faced by the department,” he said.
The cameras used are high-quality, tamper-proof, with night vision capability. For the time being, only red light violations are being booked. The details of the traffic violators along with the images will now be fed into the central data base. For red light violation coupled with rash and negligent driving, the motorist would have to pay Rs.1,000 as fine.
According to the official, the MVD will start booking those who jump traffic signals, stop lines, and yellow lines; overtaking through the left; not following the lane discipline; and not using helmet and seatbelts soon. Those who use mobile phones while driving will also be booked.
