CHANDIGARH: In the last couple of years, the trend of traffic violations has undergone a drastic change in the city. The number of violation for driving without helmet has been overpowered by the number of violation for jumping red light by the drivers. The statistic available with the traffic police wing reveals that out of the total number of challans issued, maximum were for violating red signal on roads since 2012. Ironically, before this, the offence of driving without helmet topped the traffic violation chart.
In 2012, the number of drivers (of all kind of vehicles) challaned for breaking red signals were 24,900, which increased to 46,772 in 2013. On the other hand, in 2012 the number of violators for driving without helmet was 47,275, which decreased to 44,601 in 2013. In short, the top position in the violations’ list was captured by the violators of red light.
This year, 25,798 violators had been challaned for jumping red light in the last four months. “There can be two reasons behind this changing traffic violation scenario. Firstly, after being challaned for a number of times for not wearing helmet, people may have started wearing them while driving. Secondly, the city has witnessed an increase in the number of four-wheeler and high-speed vehicle users in the last two years,” claimed traffic police experts.
Meanwhile, another violation that saw an increase in its number in the last two years was that of driving without wearing seat belts. In 2012, 12,271 challans were issued to drivers for not wearing seat belts while driving. The same number increased to 18,145 in 2013. This year, 5,518 people were challaned in the last four months for the same offence.
SSP (traffic) Maneesh Chaudhary said, “Be it challan for driving without helmet or driving without seat belts, the increased in the number of challans have somehow reduced the number of fatal road accidents in the city in the last two years.”