Goods vehicles pay ‘good’ fines

Bangalore, November 17: According to the Bangalore Traffic Police, goods vehicles like trucks and tempos account for 21 per cent of all traffic offences under the Motor Vehicles Act. Also, these vehicles constitute about 3.6 per cent of the total vehicles in the city, but account for 21 per cent of the total violations.

Sajad Khan, the inspector of police for the Administrative Department said, “A lot of these goods vehicle drivers know how to drive and possess licenses too.” But, they are not aware of the traffic rules that should be followed while driving, he added.

The daily commuters also complain about the reckless driving of the drivers of these goods vehicles. Rahul Raghavendra, a student said, “Truck drivers cause too many problems. They break the traffic rules and ride too fast.”

Rickshaw drivers also narrate the same story. Naasir, an auto driver said that goods vehicles create a lot of traffic jams in the city.

Khan attributed the problem to the carelessness of the drivers of goods vehicles who park the vehicles in no parking zones, drive in prohibited areas and change lanes, often without taking notice of the other vehicles on the road. He added that the cases of jumping the signals are most common for these drivers and they are made to pay huge fines for it.

Srinivas, a goods vehicle driver, said “The police await an opportunity to fine us. Even if we carry our license and all the necessary documents and the vehicle matches all the standards as per the Regional Transport Office, the police create a lot of problems and fine us heavily for having faults in our vehicle.” He added that they are made to pay hefty fines like Rs 700 for just a broken light many a times.