Road Safety Drive Under way in AP; Many Motorists Given Hefty Fines

Vijayawada/Visakhapatnam: In a joint drive, the police and road safety authorities have started implementing the road safety norms in Andhra Pradesh in a strict manner from this month, in view of a sharp increase in rule violations and fatal mishaps.

“As the vehicle population is steadily rising, compliance with vehicular traffic rules is a must and hence we started strictly enforcing the norms by slapping fines as per norms on motorists, who flout the norms,” officials said.

In the NTR district alone, the authorities carried out checking of 1,061 vehicles including buses, goods carriages etc., and seized 47 vehicles from Oct 4 to 22. They imposed compound fee and collected tax and penalty worth Rs.94.48 lakh, in total so far. Out of this, they realised an amount of Rs.15.66 lakh. Some Rs.83.94 lakh in fine is yet to be paid by the violators.

Officials have also initiated an awareness drive on road safety norms and slapped fines for offences as per GO-21 dated October 10, 2020. Some offences like riding/driving vehicles without insurance certificates leads to a fine of Rs.2,000 for first offence and Rs.4,000 each for second and subsequent offences.

Sounding the horn needlessly or continuously would result in a fine of Rs.1,000 to Rs.2,000; not wearing the seat belt and carrying passengers without wearing the seat belt means a fine of Rs.1,000; using a vehicle without registration would mean a fine of Rs.2,000 to Rs.5,000.

Driving dangerously by use of handheld communication devices (mobile phone) would mean a fine of Rs.1,500 for first offence and Rs.10,000 for the second and subsequent offences within three years. Riding/driving without a driving licence or registration certificate should invite a fine of Rs.150 to 500 and above.

NTR district deputy transport commissioner A Mohan said, “We in association with the police have started carrying out the drive on the vehicles to see that all motorists comply with road safety norms.”

In Visakhapatnam, the transport authorities booked 5,728 cases for helmet violations and seized 5,300 driving licences. They are processing to cancel licences of an additional 2,500 violators.

Visakha district deputy transport commissioner Adinarayana said, “Our enforcement strategy includes a three-tier penalty system wherein the first-time offenders would face suspension of licence for three months followed by a six- months suspension for the second offense; seizure of vehicle and cancellation of licence for a year for the third-time offence.”

City police commissioner SB Bagchi has made the use of helmets mandatory, saying this is a life-saving safety procedure. Additional DCP (traffic) Praveen Kumar said they proposed suspension of nearly 51,400 driving licences and forwarded the call to the transport department. Of these, 11,500 licences have been cancelled.

The authorities are also using speed laser guns to check vehicle-speed and imposing fines for parking violations.