Traffic personnel and policemen in Bengaluru have been spotted violating traffic rules– driving rashly without helmets and parking carelessly.
Riya Sharma
Even after the imposition of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, from September 1, with lakhs of rupees collected as hefty penalties by the traffic police, police and government officials are still seen violating traffic rules, riding around motorbikes without helmets.
“These law-enforcing vehicles have been seen breaking the law, in many instances. Traffic personnel and policemen can be seen driving rashly and parking carelessly, blocking traffic flow. They sometimes park in non-designated areas or, worse, can be seen driving on the wrong side of the road”, said Gaurav, a motorist and a regular commuter.
Sub-inspector Ravindra threw light on the fact that the nature of the jobs of traffic personnel and policemen can be very urgent.
He said, “We must understand the nature of the jobs of these officials. They have to break the rules sometimes. Chances are that there is always some urgency. They must be speeding to catch a thief or something.”
Many twitter posts tweeting pictures of policemen riding motorbikes without helmets have been doing the rounds on social media recently.
Assistant Sub-Inspector, M S Prakash said that there are more than 18 lakh vehicles in Bengaluru and the Traffic Management Centre keeps a tab of all of them via google maps, and when traffic personnel and policemen are caught violating traffic rules, they are fined and punished within the system as well.
According to an official order, law enforcement officers in Delhi have to pay double the penalty if they violate traffic rules as mentioned under the new Motor Vehicles Act.
Prof. M N Sreehari, advisor to Government of Karnataka in Traffic, Transportation & Infrastructure, said, “Rules should be the same for everyone, even law enforcers. When on a motorbike, even a law enforcer is a rider and should not be charged double for a violation.”
That said, he added, no one should violate the traffic rules and every motorist or driver should abide by the traffic norms.
Traffic personnel and policemen are expected to be more careful as they are the law enforcers and set an example for the public to follow, so violating the norms should be out of the question for these officials, he concluded.
