The latest flash inspection by the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) to detect misuse of high-beam lights on national and State highways has exposed 217 drivers in the district. MVD officials said the maximum number of violations were recorded in Kozhikode followed by Malappuram with 149 cases.
The State-wide inspection on selected stretches of the national and State highways was conducted on Saturday. As many as 1,162 drivers were held across the State on the charge of misuse of high-beam lights.
All uniformed staff members of the MVD had joined the drive following a State-level directive. In Kozhikode district alone, there were 43 officers in action under 13 different squads led by two Regional Transport Officers. They mostly covered the accident prone stretches of National Highway-66.
Squad members said they had conducted the inspection in the light of increasing accidents caused by drivers blinded by high-beam lights and other unauthorised high intensity discharge (HID) light fittings. Quoting World Health Organisation figures, they said around 33% of accidents at night was directly linked to the thoughtless use of HID lights.
“The State-wide checking against high-beam lights will be conducted twice every month, and the Regional Transport Officers will be using lux metres for accurately measuring the luminance of vehicles,” Joint Transport Commissioner Rajeev Puthalath told The Hindu on Monday. He said the checking would be random in nature and coordinated directly by Transport Commissioner Sudhesh Kumar.
The squad checked 4,580 vehicles during the special drive across the State. In some districts, the squad continued the inspection till 5 a.m. on Sunday.
The total amount collected as compounding fee for violation of various safety rules, including misuse of lights and overload, was ₹38.26 lakh.
