Odisha: RTOs asked to act tough against traffic rule violators

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Aug 25, 2021 at 4:55 PM Updated On : Aug 25, 2021 at 4:49 PM

Cuttack: Tightening the noose around traffic rule violators, the State Transport Authority (STA) asked the Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) to suspend the driving license (DL) of offending drivers for a minimum period of three months.

Transport Commissioner-Cum-Chairman of the STA, Sanjeeb Panda in a letter to the RTOs asked them to take steps for stringent enforcement against the road safety violators. Mentioning about the observations of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety, Panda said the DLs of the violators should be suspended for at least three months under Section 19 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1968 read with Rule 21 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.

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He detailed out the following offences for which the DLs must be suspended: 1. Driving at a speed exceeding the specified limit which would also include the red light jumping 2. Carrying overload in goods carriage and carrying passengers in goods carriages. 3. Driving vehicle under the influence of alcohol. 4. Using mobile phone while driving.

As the Supreme Court Committee directed the States to strictly implement the Sec 194 D (penalty for non-wearing protective headgear) of MV Act, 1988, the Transport Commissioner asked the RTOs to take steps for enforcement of the directive.

“As enforcement plays a crucial role in reduction of road accidents and fatalities, you are directed to take steps for stringent enforcement against the road safety violators and achieve 100% DL suspension of the offending drivers, who are liable for DL suspension,” the Transport Commissioner said in the letter to RTOs.

The Supreme Court Committee has directed to submit a quarterly report on enforcement for review at their level. While analysing the performance of RTOs, for January to March, 2021 and April to June 2021, it is observed that only 39% (27,264) and 61% (10,724) of DLs of the offending drivers were suspended in the SARATHI database respectively.

The letter further stated the road accident and fatality data received from the Crime Branch, indicates that over speeding is one of the major reasons of the road accidents and fatalities. During 2020, 72% of the road accidents were caused due to over speeding resulting into 73% of total fatalities.

Citing a report the letter said during January to June 2021, a total of 40,319 e-challans were issued for the over speeding cases against which only 4,027 DLs of the offending drivers were suspended which is just 10%.