Drunk driving. Photo: IstockThiruvananthapuram: In a bid to bring down road accident deaths in Kerala, the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) has started a crackdown on traffic rule violations.
Traffic enforcers have suspended 4,402 driving licenses in the past five months, transport commissioner S. Ananthakrishnan told Onmanorama.
Most number of cases were registered for drunk driving, 2,629. The licenses of 1,728 were suspended in this regard.
Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) had been asked to take action against persistent offenders under various provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. One vehicle in Thalassery was found involved in traffic rule violations for about 160 times. Fines had been slapped on the owner and follow-up action initiated. There were at least 40 cases in which particular vehicles were found involved in over 20 traffic rule violations. The MVD would draw up a list of repeat offenders.
Only the licenses of five-time offenders had been canceled now. The suspended licenses could be revoked only after three months. The licenses of repeat offenders would be kept in abeyance for longer duration.
There are instances in which some vehicles have been caught on CCTV cameras multiple times. The list of vehicles involved in these incidents is being prepared . Only after the list has been finalized will the number of vehicles whose licenses will be suspended will be exactly known.
Motor Vehicles Act Bill
The Motor Vehicles Act amendment Bill will come up for approval before the Rajya Sabha during the monsoon session of the Parliament. The Bill was approved by the Lok Sabha in April. The provisions under the new Bill include higher fines for traffic rule violations as well increasing compensation for accident victims by ten times.
Under the provisions of the new Bill, the fine for dangerous driving and the fine for driving without license have been increased to Rs 5000. Those who are caught for drunken driving will be slapped a hefty fine of Rs 10,000. Those who use mobile phones while driving will be imposed a fine of Rs 5000. The fine for driving without seat-belt will be Rs 1000.
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