Stiffer Fines bring Traffic Violations Down in City- In Aug 31861 Cases Booked, In Sept 18863
Mangaluru : With the government introducing heavy traffic penalties on traffic violations, as per the City traffic police department , the traffic violation cases in the Mangaluru city limits have dropped by 40% in September 2109 as compared to August 2019. As per police data, in August 2019, there were 31,861 traffic violations cases booked, whereas in September after the implementation of amended traffic penalties, the traffic violations dropped to 18,863 cases. It is learnt that Mangaluru Traffic Police have booked 8162 cases (as per the amendment rules) and collected Rs 48 lakh in fines between September 7 to 19 October. Wow-Easy Money!
Speaking to Team Mangalorean Manjunath Shetty ACP (Traffic) said, “Even though the traffic cases have plunged, but the fine collected has doubled. After the new traffic fines were implemented, traffic violation cases nosedived, because motorists didn’t wanted to get caught by the cops for violations since they didn’t wanted to shell out big bucks from their pockets. Also the drop in cases is because mainly of two reasons- More awareness; and diffidence among motorists to hit the road without requisite documents. Only after the motorists produce the necessary documents, like Insurance, Driver Licence, Vehicle Registration, Pollution, and Fitness Certificates, among others, they were allowed to go”.
Sources also reveal that on average, in Mangaluru City nearly 30,000 cases are booked each month, roughly 1000 a day or about 40 cases every hour, until stiffer penalties were implemented. In 2019, there were 31,861 cases booked in August, 31,417 in July, 29,980 in June and 41,155 in May. Among these cases the most cases were booked for riding without helmet, reckless driving, parking violations, driving without seat belt, and using mobile phones while driving or riding. In September, 731 cases were booked for riding without helmet and riding without helmet for pillion rider; 710 cases for use of tint film on car windows; around 1000 cases for reckless driving and illegal parking.
ACP Manjunath also said, “Even drunk driving cases have plunged down in the month of September. Earlier, in a week City traffic cops would book around 100 cases, now it’s down to 60-50 a week. All this was due to the stiffer fines introduced by the government. Earlier, violators would pay the fine on the spot, but now, many prefer to go to court or pay online. If motorists drive or ride following the traffic rules, they wouldn’t have to drill a big hole in their pockets”.
