Underage driving: Now parents to face music

BENGALURU: In a bid to curb underage teens from indulging in rash driving or bike stunts on city roads, the city police has decided to hold parents also accountable. They will face legal action and even arrest if their wards are found guilty.

Taking a serious note of recent spate in fatal accidents, involving minors behind the wheels, the city traffic police additional commissioner, M.A. Saleem, said that majority of the cases reported in the recent past involving underage motorist resulted in fatal accidents. Underage boys tend to involve in drag racing and wheeling, which resulted in fatal accidents and pose threat to the fellow motorists, he said.

The drive will commence from Thursday at specific locations, identified as vulnerable points for drag racing and wheeling. It would be in addition to checks against drunken driving, he added.

According to the police, the traffic staff has been instructed to keep an eye on underage motorists found breaking the law and seize their vehicles before summoning the owner of the vehicles, as well as the parents of the minors to the station. As part of the drive, the parents and the owner of the vehicles will have to surrender their driving licences and vehicle documents, which would be sent to the RTO with a recommendation for suspension apart from slapping a huge fine.

The police would also arrest the parents and file FIR against them. As per the Karnataka’s High Court decision in June 2015 if a driver is under the age of 18 and found riding a two-wheeler or four-wheeler, an FIR would be booked against the parents or guardians of the minor motorist under section 184 of the Motor Vehicle Act, followed by fine or jail term up to six months.

According to a senior police officer over 100 such cases have been booked across the city since June this year. “We were doing this even earlier during festive seasons and seize vehicles and slap notices to the parents to attend courts and pay fines.”