KOCHI: The hit-and-run incident in which a tanker lorry ran over three migrant workers engaged in Kochi metro work on the national highway at Muttom highlights the need to have legible registration number plates on all four sides of goods and public transport vehicles.
The police said the tanker lorry, bearing Gujarat (‘GJ’) registration number, had been identified based on the CCTV footage of 10.34 p.m. at the Paliekkara toll plaza. “The front number plate is visible. But it is unclear whether it displayed the number clearly in the rear, as fellow workers or passers-by could have jotted it down in the vicinity of the accident site,” said a senior police officer.
Interestingly, all that the police do is impose a ₹100 fine on rule violators, though many vehicles with hidden or improper number plates are involved in crimes.
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Ernakulam RTO Reji P. Varghese said numerous goods carriers managed to escape from accident scenes, as their rear number plates would be illegible or remained hidden beneath the rear frame. “All this will be a thing of the past, as steps are being taken to ensure that all vehicles registered in Kerala have high-security number plates bearing hologram by mid-2018. Tenders have been invited from prospective bidders, and the process of affixing boards will begin in a month or so at agencies authorised by the Motor Vehicles Department [MVD],” he added.
The new number plates will be standardised, highly visible, and cannot be duplicated. A damaged plate can be replaced only by MVD officials. Their cost will be known once the bid is finalised.