The menace of underage driving

By Hameed Ashraf | NT

One night, his friends recorded a video of him driving the motorcycle and performing stunts on the highway. The video went viral on social media. It was covered by the local newspapers and TV news channels. Only then his parents came to know about his antics. They were not pleased with the young boy’s actions as they knew that those stunts were dangerous. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, didn’t have a driving licence, and was too young to drive a motorcycle on the highway.

The next morning, his parents were in for a shock. The police had landed at their place unannounced. His parents were imprisoned for a day and a monetary fine was also levied. His mother was a heart patient and the police action took a toll on her health. His father had to face a lot of humiliation within the society. All this, because they allowed a minor to ride a motorcycle. They violated traffic rules and thus had to face traffic police fines.

Numbers go up
Despite such mishaps, adrenaline junkies in Bengaluru still fancy drag racing and bike stunts on public roads. M i - nors driving cars or riding bikes have become a headache for Bengaluru traffic police. According to official data, on an average at least 23 minors are being caught every day across the city.

Speaking to News Trail, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic (West), Kuldeep Kumar R Jain said, “Some youngsters are often seen doing these wheelie stunts, especially on the outskirts of the city such as ring roads and NICE road flyover. We often crackdown upon such offenders with inputs from our informers and police. The police are making efforts to ensure the safety of road users,” he said.

However, the City Traffic Police often crack down upon such offences. In the last three days, more than 50 minors were booked for driving vehicles. Besides, the police have launched an awareness programme among minors about the importance of driving vehicles with a valid licence.

“We have requested the petrol bunk authorities to join hands to put an end to minors’ driving. They just need to alert us if any unauthorised drivers or riders visit their station. We can collect the vehicle registration number through CCTV camera footage,” Assist a n t Commissioner of Police (Traffic) S N Sandesh Kumar said. “Accidents mainly occur either due to lack of awareness or due to ignorance. Parents need to be more careful while allowing their children to drive motor vehicles. Driving without a Learner’s Licence is a punishable offence as per the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988,” the traffic official said.

According to Bengaluru Traffic Police, a fine of Rs 25,000 with imprisonment of three years can be imposed towards the underage driving offence. The police may also deregister the vehicle involved for over a year and the underage shall be rendered ineligible for a driving licence until 25 years of age.

The officer also added that they have come across offenders who remove number plates and perform stunts so that they could not be traced even if someone took photos or videos.

“But we have methods to trace such vehicles,” the officer told News Trail.