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Think twice before hitting streets in full throttle as the Odisha government has decided to intensify the crackdown against rogue motorists by suspending their Driving Licenses (DL).
The State Transport Commissioner has written to all Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) for stringent enforcement of traffic rules and to achieve 100 per cent DL suspension of the drivers who defy the rules.
It is pertinent to mention here that Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety had earlier directed the suspension of Driving License of a violator for a minimum period of three months under Section 19 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 along with Rule 21 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.
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The Driving License can be suspended for three months for the following offences:
-Driving at a speed exceeding the specified limit which would also include the red light jumping.
-Carrying overload in goods carriage and carrying passengers in goods carriages.
- Driving vehicle under the influence of alcohol. - Using mobile phone while driving
The Supreme Court Committee during a review meeting held on November 9, 2020 directed to strictly implement the Sec 194 (penalty for non-wearing protective headgear) of MV Act, 1988.
The Supreme Court Committee had also directed to submit a quarterly report on enforcement for review at the RTO levels.
“While analysing the performance of RTOs, for the last two quarters i.e. January to March, 2021 and April to June 2021, it is observed that only 39 per cent (27264 nos) and 61percent (10724 nos) of DLs of the offending drivers were suspended in the SARATHI database respectively. Again, the report generated in the SARATHI database on DL suspension also includes the DLs forwarded by the Police for suspension under various offences. It means, if we count the number of DLs suspended against the detection by the enforcement officials of Transport department, the number will be even less,” the Transport Commissioner’s letter read.
As per the road accident and fatality data of the Crime Branch, over speeding is one of the major causes of the road accidents and fatalities in the State. In 2020, 72 per cent of the road accidents were caused due to over speeding resulting in 73 percent of the total fatalities.
“This implies that strict enforcement actions against these drivers are not being taken. The report shows that during January to June 2021, a total of 40319 e-challans have been issued for over speeding cases against which only 4027 DLs of the offending drivers were suspended which is just 10 per cent,” the letter added.
