Bhubaneswar: The lens this Tuesday will be on underaged drivers taking to the roads across Odisha, Additional Commissioner, Transport, Enforcement, and Road Safety, Lalmohan Sethi informed on Monday.
In view of the alarming road safety scenario and accident deaths in the state, every Tuesday is being observed as zero tolerance day against over-speeding vehicles, drunken driving, wrong-side driving, use of mobile phone while driving and violation of helmet and seatbelt law. The government will also be observing a zero fatality week from April 1 across the state.
Stressing the importance of this drive, which will be carried out around schools and colleges, Sethi said that 132 boys and 23 girls below the age of 18 years were killed in accidents in 2021 and this is a cause of concern. “We will conduct the drive with the help of police from March 28 to April first week,” he said, adding that last week saw a drive against drunken driving.
He said that the enforcement will done under Section 199A of the MV Act, and vehicles will be seized and registration canceled. “The guardian of the child or owner of the motor vehicle operated by the minor will be slapped with a fine of Rs 25,000 and can be also imprisoned for up to three years. If found guilty, the details of the minor would entered into Sarathi Data base and s/he would not be able to get a driving license before the age of 25 years,” he added.
In February, traffic police impounded two-wheelers of 27 minor students riding to school as part of Operation Morning Storm campaign.
Notably, Odisha saw 9% rise in accident deaths in the state from January to November 2022 compared to the corresponding period in 2021. While 4,499 people died in accidents during the 11 months in 2021, the casualty figure shot up to 4,908 during the period last year.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Central Motor Vehicles Act provides for issuing licence to 16-18 age group for below 50 CC gearless scooters, though no such scooters are available in India. Following which, there was also a proposal to grant driving licences to 16-18 years old to ride gearless scooters with up to 100cc. However, teenagers in the 16-18 age group can procure a driving licence for an e-scooter with a maximum restricted speed of 70 km per, according to the new rule amended by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
