Hyderabad: Cops take cellphone driving easy, no one arrested in 2019

Hyderabad: Driving while on the cell phone has increased three-fold in the city but no one is jailed.

More than 25,000 cases of driving while on the cell phone have been booked in the three commissionerates.

Incidentally, this year only fines of `1,000 per person have been charged but there is no jail term given.

The jail sentence is of a day or two but it was observed as one of the deterrents for not committing the offence again.

In 2018, there were 212 people who were sent to jail for driving while on the cell phone.  But that has not happened in 2019.

With the increasing number of accidents on the roads, traffic violations in the form of sudden turns, no use of indicator when going left or right, driving while on the cell phone is another factor resulting in a major risk for people using the roads.

Talking with a friend, family member or attending to an emergency call diverts attention from the task of driving. It takes away the attention and that is an enough cause for an accident.

According to sources in the traffic department, cases are being filed in the court but they are merely being fined and let off.

A senior officer explained, “Earlier the magistrate in Kukatpally court was very strict and would take the offence very seriously. But, of late, the courts are merely fining them. At this rate, the fine must be increased to `10,000 per person. The charge is so low that everyone is paying the money and going away.”

The driving while on the cell phone charge is divided in two categories. One category is of those who are caught on camera and sent an e-challan. This is paid only when the person is sent a notice at home or when the police catches the vehicle for some other offence. The second are those caught physically by a policeperson and charged. The second category leads to court cases.

In court, maximum people say things like, ‘I was forced to take my wife’s call, ‘My father is not well and had to take the call,’ ‘My daughter was waiting in school,’ ‘My mother called as she was very worried that I had not reached home.’ These are the standard answers from maximum people caught for the offence. Emergency is the buzz word for taking the call which in 99 per cent of the cases is not true, argued the police.

Maximum offenders are professionals, students, sales personnel and those below 45 years. The behaviour is very impulsive and there is lack of patience, noted experts. There is an urge to multi-task despite knowing that it can be dangerous.

S.M. Vijay Kumar, deputy commissioner of traffic police, Cyberabad division, explained, “People are aware that they must not talk on the cell phone. Still, they do it. Why? This is because they do not fear the law. They know the fine amount and they are aware of the procedures in the court. They are not bothered about how their driving can also lead to accidents or cause harm or injury to others. Till we have a strict law, people are not going to follow it.”

The offenders are being caught only where there is a camera and traffic police personnel. There many other lanes and bylanes where neither are present. The talking and driving is a norm there.