Bengaluru: Traffic violators not scared of Yama?
Bengaluru: Despite the traffic police’s innovative ways to create traffic awareness, the violation of traffic rules is steadily on the rise. Police recently brought in the mythological character ‘Yamaraja’, who roamed the city asking people not to break traffic rules, and also a magician.
A senior police officer said, “Already till June this year, over three crore cases have been booked. Every day, on an average, we book over one lakh cases. Rules are being strictly enforced. But the issue is motorists fail to follow traffic rules.”
He said, “This time, we came up with innovative ideas, like using the character of Yamaraja – the Lord of Death, to spread the message that breaking traffic rules could be deadly. Hebbal traffic police used a magician and he, through his tricks, tried to convey the dangers of not wearing helmets, jumping traffic signals and driving under drunk.”
The officer said, “No matter what we do, people continue to violate the rules. Ultimately, motorists should care for their lives and follow rules. If they are more responsible, everything else will fall in place. The highest number of violations is by two-wheelers, followed by autorickshaws and then the cabs and private transport vehicles.”
Another officer said, “During our frequent routine checks, we prepared a list of top 500 violators and found that there were 114 cases against a single passenger autorickshaw, 105 cases against a maxi-cab and over 67 cases against a single two-wheeler.”
‘Increase fine amount’
“The only way to curb traffic violations is to increase the fine amount. It will act as a deterrent and create a fear among the motorists. They will think twice before breaking the rules. The matter is already with the Centre and hope they implement it soon," said the officer.