Rs 5 lakh in fines for seat belt rule
A week since city traffic police enforced the seat belt rule on the city roads.
Chennai: A week since city traffic police enforced the seat belt rule on the city roads, 4,250 offenders have been booked. Though police went soft on the offenders initially by letting them off with warnings on the first day (December 9), subsequent enforcement was stringent, a senior police official said.
The 50 special teams formed to conduct surprise raids were advised to keep a constant vigil and instruct drivers about the risk they faced by not following this simple procedure, police sources added.
Important city stretches like Anna Salai, Kamaraj Salai, GST Road and other bypass roads leading to the city have increased vigil now as these are accident-prone areas, senior officials said.
City drivers feel that the enforcement is a good step forward to increase safety awareness among the ever-increasing vehicle population in the city. Chandrasekar, an engineer who returned from the US recently, said, “I am really surprised when my cousins put on the seat belts in their cars for fear of being apprehended by the cops.”
More than Rs 5 lakh has been collected as penalty from violators, said deputy commissioner T. Sivanantham (traffic planning). “We hope that the drivers understand the safety aspect of the initiative and cooperate with us,” he added.
The traffic police had announced that first-time offenders would be fined Rs 100 and if found to repeat the offence, Rs 300 will be collected. Police sources said even VIPs and drivers of police vehicles are not spared and the rule applies to everyone.