Recently, a jam-packed share autorickshaw racing down the TPK Road towards Palanganatham roundabout hit a two-wheeler coming from TVS Nagar. The rider was thrown off the vehicle and she was lying on the road with bleeding injuries. But the share autorickshaw did not even stop. Luckily, the traffic was thin since it was afternoon. A pedestrian helped her on her feet and took her to a nearby clinic for first-aid. This is the eye-witness account of a reader.
A man in his late fifties tried to cross the road near Tallakulam temple to go to Ghokale Road around 7 p.m. recently A share autorickshaw knocked him down. He suffered multiple fractures and was bedridden for weeks together.
These are not isolated cases. Rash driving by share autorickshaws result in accidents every day. A TNSTC official at Periyar bus stand said there was confrontation between bus crew and share auto drivers every day. They not only encroached bus stops and picked up passengers, but enter into wordy altercation with drivers and conductors, he said.
The city traffic police said they have been booking cases against errant share autorickshaw drivers and collecting fines. The onus is on the Regional Transport Office. They can impound the vehicles and even cancel the licence and permits of the share autos, the police say.
When Commissioner of Police Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal took charge in July 2017, he had told reporters that the traffic police would conduct checks with RTOs. But the checks do not seem to be happening. When contacted, the CoP said that checks were indeed going on.
When asked about an allegation that many share autos with permits for other districts were operating in Madurai, he said it would be checked.
According to a Right to Information activist Santhalingam of Vilakkuthoon, he heard from a Transport department officer that at least 500 share autos in the city did not have valid permits. During a weekend check, it was found that 78 share auto drivers were found driving in a drunken state and 119 drivers did not have driving licence.
