Hyderabad: The owner of a Honda Jazz car in Hyderabad has been fined Rs1.82 lakh for speeding 127 times in a single year. The vehicle, which bears the number TS 09 ER 2957, has been spotted travelling at speeds of up to 163 kmph.
The car has been found speeding 127 times between April 4, 2017, and March 10, 2018. According to the Telangana State e-challan portal, the car has been caught speeding on the city’s Outer Ring Road (ORR), where a large number of accidents are known to occur, as well as in other areas such as Narsingi, Harshaguda, and Himayath Sagar.
The penalty for each offence is Rs1,435, and the total fine amount currently stands at Rs1.82 lakh. The speed limit on the eight-lane ORR was initially 120 kmph. It was later reduced to 100 kmph after a high number speeding-related accidents began to be reported on the road. The Cyberabad Traffic Police introduced six mobile patrol cars and installed five speed guns to monitor speeding on the ORR in May 2017. Vehicles have been seized for violating the speed limit more than three times.
D.V. Ranga Reddy, the Inspector of RGI Airport Traffic Police Station, said, “The offender is definitely sent text messages regarding the challans, but if he is not using the phone number recorded at the time of vehicle registration, he may not be receiving them. We will send his vehicle number to tollgates, and detain the vehicle. We will make sure that the vehicle owner clears all his challans soon.”
Vinod Kumar Kanumala, an expert on road safety, said, “127 challans for speeding is a very large number. The traffic police should strictly monitor such offences and take strict action against vehicle owners and drivers. There must be other vehicles in the city whose owners just ignore challans. Apart from this, the drivers of RTC buses, auto-rickshaws, and cabs also ignore challans because they are not able to pay them.”
Imran Jeddy, a resident of the city and a frequent user of the ORR, said, “This is most probably a case where a driver has been hired. It should serve as a wake-up call for companies that hire drivers who do not have proper knowledge of rules and regulations. They may consider themselves lucky that this serial offender has not caused a fatal accident and has only accrued monetary fines.”
