Over 1.56 lakh driving licences have been suspended for various traffic offences in the State in the first six months of this year.
Speaking on mobile phones was the prime reason for licence suspension. While driving licences of 57,158 persons were suspended for the offence for the whole of last year, this number is 64,105 at the end of first six months in 2018.
The next highest number of licence suspension is for transporting persons in a goods carriage vehicle, followed by drunken driving, red light jumping, overspeeding and overload in goods carriage.
Meanwhile, a total of 2,658 licences of drivers involved in fatal accidents have been suspended and 1,066 have been cancelled during this period. This includes MTC drivers too, a transport official said. There are six heads, as notified by the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety, under which licences can be suspended. They are over speeding, overload in goods carriage, carrying persons in goods carriage vehicles, using mobile phone while driving, drunken driving and red light jumping.
Meanwhile, the State Transport Authority is planning to effect changes in software to facilitate speedy cancellation or suspension of licences. However as on date, it takes at least a couple of months for the licence to get cancelled or suspended. “For example, if a vehicle from Kanniyakumari gets involved in a traffic offence in Chennai, the details have to be sent to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) concerned for cancellation or suspension,” said a transport department official.
He said the RTOs have to go through the data and then initiate the process. “This takes a lot of time. Now we are planning to create a separate provision in the Sarathi application under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,” the official said. Everyday traffic policemen can directly upload the details of the vehicle that flouted norms and the RTOs concerned can also access this and start the process of cancellation. “Once the cancellation/suspension process becomes faster, it will serve as an deterrent and reduce traffic violations,” a senior traffic police officer said.
