Visakhapatnam: The Vizag city police has launched a new campaign by using social media (Twitter) to name and shame traffic violators. Most of the netizens justified the cops’ drive, saying it would be effective in discouraging traffic violations and would prevent road accidents.
Recently the police posted a photo of a youngster using a mobile phone, with a tweet saying “@vizagcitypolice, Texting lord Yamaraja on his arrival. Plz find out guys if he from #vizag we can stop him in the middle.”
Despite the administration’s best efforts to mitigate rash and negligent driving and fatal accidents through counselling as well as imposing fines, at least 500 to 1,000 motorists violate traffic rules by jumping the red lights, using mobile phones while driving, and others. Pedestrians and other motorists are at the greatest risk, said a senior police officer.
T. Anil Kumar, a motorist, objected to the practice, and said that it is unfair to upload pictures of offenders in the public domain unless he or she is a repeated traffic violator. “In Vizag city on average, at least 500 motorists violate traffic norms. Would the police post all their pictures on Twitter?” he asked. Would they do the same if police violated the rules, he asked.
Traffic police said that they have collected a whopping '10.84 crore in 2017 in traffic fines and 3,87,384 motorists were booked under various sections of the Motor Vehicles Act. The numbers indicate that road safety is a choice for many of the motorists in the city, they added.
