Udupi, Sep 17: Udupi traffic police have collected around Rs 28.2 lac in fines from traffic violators in 5,826 cases, from January 1 to September 17, said traffic SI Abdul Khadar in a meeting.

 

The district traffic police conducted a meeting on the traffic rules violation and a sensitisation programme, held at Jagannath Bhavan here on Thursday, September 17.

 

"Motorists should follow the rules not just for the sake of adhering to traffic department rules but for their personal safety," Khadar said.

 

 

Expressing disappointment over the manner in which vehicles are parked along the roads he said, "The roads are meant for vehicles to ply on and not for on-street parking. I am personally upset over parking system in Udupi. A commercial complex must provide parking facilities to its customers. It has been also observed that the numbers of vehicles on the road in the city have increased."

 

"We have been conducting intensive vehicle monitoring to control traffic violations. There is no discrimination in this regard, whosoever commits a violation will be penalised. Violators will not be exempted from fines. We have also observed people giving the excuse of coronavirus when they have been stopped by the police in certain situations. There is no connection to corona and traffic rules. Therefore, we request people to just follow the rules," he stressed.

 

Khadar also asked the bus drivers to not stop wherever the passengers ask them to as it is considered to be a traffic violation as well.

 

Listing the type of fines collected Khadar said, "We have collected fine from people who drove in the wrong direction on one-way roads. Around 405 cases were booked in this regard and Rs 2,02,500 in fines were collected. Over 132 cases were booked of buses overloading the passengers, Rs 26,600 was collected in fine. Meanwhile, in 110 cases for modulation of silencers in bikes, Rs 55,500 was collected as the fine amount from the riders. They were also asked to get their silencers changed. 28 other cases of several other traffic violations pertaining to DL, insurance, triple riding, speeding, parking in unauthorized public places were booked. In this case, Rs 14,000 amount in fine was collected by the traffic police. Around 150 cases were booked for not wearing a seatbelt, Rs 75,000 were collected from the car drivers. Rs 25,000 in fines were collected by violators for obstructing traffic, reckless and dangerous driving. 150 cases were registered against people who were not found wearing a helmet and Rs 75,000 in fines were collected in four months. Further, 30 cases were booked for effective headlights and Rs 15,000 amount was collected in fines."

 

Traffic SI also urged the auto drivers to share information concerning drug supply or drug peddlers in the area, which is vital and a sensitive situation at present.

 

Town PSI Sakthivelu addressing the gathering said, "Some people give calls to politicians or influential person when they need to escape a traffic violation. Such instances are embarrassing. India ranks top in the world when it comes to deaths by road accidents. Over 1.5 lac people have lost lives in accidents and 5 lac have lost their lives following an injury they suffered in these cases. Safety is vital, and rules have been laid down for our safety. I request everyone to adhere to the guidelines given by the government."

 

Taxi association members, bus drivers, auto drivers and the public were present in the meeting.