A video footage that landed on the Motor Vehicle Department’s (MVD) Whats App number meant to report traffic violations literally jolted the enforcement officials on Tuesday evening.
The video showed a youngster standing on a moving motorcycle, and that too on the busy stretch between Palarivattom and Vyttila. MVD officials sprang into action and traced the rider to Vennala.
To their surprise, the offender was not some immature teenager but a 29-year-old government servant who promptly admitted to the offence on being confronted with the video clipping.
“He had no excuse for his act and said that he acted on the spur of the moment. In fact, we realised that it was not a one-off incident, as he was actively into reckless and dangerous stunts like riding with his back facing the handle and wheeling the bike with his legs on the handle,” said Shefiq B., Motor Vehicle Inspector (MVI) engaged in enforcement against reckless driving.
His licence now stands suspended for three months after being charged with Section 21 of the Motor Vehicles Act read with Section 184.
The duration of the suspension will be increased to six months and a year before the licence is cancelled in the event of a repeated offence.
Dangerous driving by impetuous youngsters has seen an exponential rise in recent times with the MVD registering on an average not fewer than 50 cases every month, the accused in many of them not even having a licence.
Last Saturday, a group of seven youngsters, of which four were girls with some of them having their faces covered, on three motorcycles turned the Palarivattom-Kakkanad road into a stunt ground as they engaged in impromptu racing against each other, endangering their own lives and that of others.
The MVD has stopped the practice of chasing down such offenders as that leaves the room for accidents.
In cases where the riders are found wearing uniforms, officials trace the educational institution with its help.
They hand over the vehicle number to the principal to trace the offender.
Officials also visit the parents at home and counsel them against letting their wards engage in such antics.
