Stern enforcement measures by the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD), backed by the directive of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety to suspend driving licences of motorists involved in five grave offences, have resulted in a dip in road accidents and fatalities by 9% to 21% in the State during the first eight months of the year.
Compared to 26,572 road accidents and 2,903 fatalities during the January-August period of 2016, road accidents in the same period in 2017 had come down to 25,511 and fatalities to 2,666.
Suspension of licences
An aggressive campaign through the print, electronic, and social media; the decision to suspend the driving licences of those involved in speed violation, signal violation, drunk driving, using mobile phone while driving, and overloading; and the motorists complying with the rules resulted in bringing down the fatalities and accidents, Rajeev Puthalath, Joint Transport Commissioner, Enforcement, told The Hindu .
From October 1, 2016 to May 25, 2017, driving licences of only 3,024 of 1,62,623 motorists were suspended for offences in the five categories, a fact that came in for criticism by the Supreme Court committee headed by K.S. Radhakrishnan.
“We have taken a tough stand against the erring motorists and suspended 12,138 driving licences during the January-August period this year,” he said.
The MVD is suspending the driving licences of those involved in fatal accidents in the State and approaching the MVDs of other States for action if the driver hails from outside the State.
In addition to the stern measures, the decision to confiscate vehicles running without third party insurance and insisting on speed governors of the type approval for vehicles had yielded results.
For fatal accidents, the driver’s licence is being suspended for a year.
The licence suspension will be for six months in case of drunk driving. The suspension of licences is for three months for all the other listed offences.
Directive to officials
State Transport and Road Safety Commissioner Anil Kant has asked MVD officials to further tighten the drive against erring motorists. State Police Chief Loknath Behera has also asked police officers to ensure road discipline and to book the erring motorists. The officials have been asked to file reports for the previous months by October 10.
