Monday, 3 November 2014

Pilibhit to ban minors driving motorcycles

The district police, as part of their "traffic month" initiative, are set to launch a campaign to stop minors, especially students of intermediate colleges, from riding two-wheelers. After inaugurating the "traffic month" on Friday, SP, Pilibhit, Sonia Singh said principals would be directed to strictly prohibit their minor students from riding motorized two-wheelers fitted with a gear system to college. It would be an offence as minors are not eligible to get a driving licence from any transport authority for riding such vehicles. 

Responding to querries by TOI, superintendent of police Sonia Singh accepted that there were thousands of college students who despite being minors were allowed by their guardians to freely drive motorcycles to their respective educational institutions. 

She said after Moharram and Ganga Snaan, which are scheduled to be held on November 4 and November 6, respectively, when the civil as well as the traffic police would inevitably be bound to carry out additional responsibilities of maintaining law and order besides ensuring smooth traffic, all principals of intermediate colleges would be issued a time-bound ultimatum to ensure that their minor students were not allowed to ride motorcycles to college. 

The SP said after the lapse of the stipulated time period, college students who are under 18 years of age and are found operating two-wheelers on roads would be held liable for infringement of traffic rules. She said the vehicles of such students would be impounded and penalties imposed on them as per law. She said the two-wheeler with auto gear systems would remain exempted from this restriction as the transport department had already lifted the compulsion of holding a valid driving licence for riding such vehicles. 

Sonia Singh said that she would seek a legal opinion from the state prosecution officer whether principals and guardians of such minor students could also be made legally liable if the minors are found riding motorcycles on public roads. She said the ban on minors driving motorcycles is not aimed at penalizing minors but protecting them from road accidents. 

The in-charge officer of traffic police Bhuvnesh Kumar Gautam said the traffic police department would also conduct campaigns to impress upon guardians as well as heads of intermediate colleges that preventing minors from riding bikes is an indispensable part of their moral duty. This aim would be fulfilled by organizing special motivational camps at intermediate colleges, he said. 

Prior to this, the "Traffic month" was formally inaugurated jointly by CO, city, Pilibhit, Kaushalendra Pratap Singh, and city magistrate Ram Niwas Sharma. Traffic police officer Gautam said legal action would be taken on first priority against those staff members of the civil police and the traffic police who were found riding bikes without a helmet or violating traffic rules.

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