With cases of juvenile driving and licence-less driving among youngters on the rise over the past three years, the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) is set to crank up its two-pronged strategy of awareness and enforcement centred on educational institutions in New Year.
Safe Kerala project
According to official records with the Transport Department, 1,205 cases were registered against owners of vehicles for juvenile driving and 4,001 cases against students found driving without licence ever since the Left Democratic Front Government came to power.
“We have intensified the enforcement ever since the launch of the Safe Kerala project and that coupled with stringent penalties in the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act has brought down the rate of motor vehicle offences in general,” said Transport Commissioner R. Sreelekha.
The Safe Kerala project involves round-the-clock enforcement by 85-odd squads with 14 Regional Transport Officers, 99 Motor Vehicle Inspectors, and 255 Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspectors.
However, the project remains largely restricted to urban areas with little or no penetration to rural areas.
The department is now planning to extend its awareness campaigns to educational institutions. “We are about to launch an awareness campaign coinciding with National Road Safety Week from January 11. Besides reviving road safety clubs in schools, we now plan to extend it to college campuses as well,” said Ms. Sreelekha.
