Guntur: Parents to be booked for allowing their minor children to drive
GUNTUR: Cases will be filed against parents for allowing their minor children to drive without valid licences. Minors operating vehicles has become a menace to the general public, as they drive rashly and often accommodate multiple pillion-riders on their bikes. The police department had previously been counselling the parents of minors caught driving, but mere counselling proved to be futile. Now the Guntur police have decided to file cases against parents of minors breaking traffic rules.
The inner ring road of Guntur city has turned into a race track for minor students. Youths take to the road on holidays and on the weekends, creating fear among locals. Young boys racing swanky foreign-made bikes with 200 cc to 750 cc engines can be spotted on the Vijayawada-Chennai national highway; and the locals of Mangalagiri have staged a protest demanding that these bike races be stopped. Such races also take place along the service road between the Kaza tollgate and Varadhi, and between Guntur and Chilakaluripeta. As a result, Yadlapadu, on the Vijayawada-Chennai NH, has become accident-prone.
D. Mohan Rao, a resident of the area, said that bike races had become very common in this area, but that no action was being taken against those driving without a license. He said that unlicenced minors hit autorickshaws and other bikes during their races, but are able to make away swiftly, so much so that they disappear from the spot before anyone has the chance to note the bike number.
Welcoming the decision of the police department to register cases against the parents, locals blamed the leniency of parents for these incidents and sought that special drives be conducted, to curb minor motorists. K. Srinivasulu, DSP (Traffic), said that police would register cases against parents and any other persons who allow minor children, or anyone without a licence, to drive their bikes or cars. He appealed to people to cooperate with the police in this matter, for the safety of the public.
