Bhubaneswar: Despite a plethora of awareness campaigns, parents are seen making fatal and expensive mistakes by allowing their unauthorized minor to drive a vehicle. A case in point is the recent incident in Bhadrak where the Odisha transport department imposed a penalty of Rs 42,500 on the owner of a two-wheeler for allowing a minor to ride his motorbike.
On February 6, when RTO Traffic Inspector Dhaneswar Nayak was returning from duty, he saw three college students on a motorcycle and the riders were without helmets and on the wrong side near Kaharapokhari area of Bhandaripokhari.
During the verification of vehicle documents, Nayak learnt that Akash Behera, the boy driving the vehicle was a minor. A challan of Rs 42,500 was issued against the owner of the two-wheeler Narayan Behera of Nuapokhari area in Bhadrak.
The challan generated included penalty of Rs 500 as General Offence, Rs 5000 fine for allowing person to drive vehicle without valid/proper Driving Licence, Rs 5000 for driving vehicle without valid DL, Rs 5000 for driving against flow of traffic, Rs 1000 for riding more than two persons in two-wheeler, Rs 1000 for riding without helmets by driver and pillion and Rs 25000 under offences by Juveniles.
The fine was imposed under Amended Motor Vehicles Act 2019.
Last month, a two-wheeler owner in Pallahara area of Angul district was fined an exorbitant amount of Rs 26,000 after a minor of his neighbourhood was caught by a joint team of MVI and traffic police while riding his bike without a helmet.
In another similar incident, the State Transport Authority had imposed a penalty of Rs 26,000 on one Mangaraj Panda for allowing his minor son to ride his motorbike. The under-aged kid was caught driving the two-wheeler without a helmet near Barang Police station area on the outskirt of the capital city Bhubaneswar.