Spotlight On Red Light Jumpers In Bhubaneswar; Violators To Lose Licence To Drive

Bhubaneswar: The focus of Bhubaneswar Traffic police has shifted from drunken driving to signal jumping.

“Vehicle jumping red light in the city will be seized and driving licence of the violator suspended for three months as per the legal provisions. The violator will also be forwarded to court,” Bhubaneswar Traffic DCP PK Rout said.

After this violation, a fine of Rs 7,000-10,000 can be slapped on the offenders, he said.

A special drive was conducted at AG square, Laxmisagar Square, Jaydev Vihar square and Khandagiri square in the first phase on Monday evening. “More than 15 four-wheelers and over 20 two-wheelers were caught jumping signals. Besides traffic personnel, the CCTV cameras installed at prominent signals help us to remotely monitor the vehicle owners who jump traffic lights,” Rout said.

The Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Commissionerate Police has been conducting massive awareness and sensitisation programmes coupled with stringent enforcement drives against violators from time to time. The Commissionerate police collected Rs 186.04 crore from 18.5 lakh people for violating traffic rules in three years (2020-22).

The DCP said that all these drives against traffic violations, including driving against flow of traffic and handheld devices, are aimed at bringing down the fatality in road accident as 2003 saw a 4% rise in accident deaths compared to 2022. While 5,467 people died in 2022, the fatality toll touched 5,696 in 2023, according to statistics shared by the state police recently.