Police to tighten rules for traffic offenders

If the traffic department has its way then if one is caught for drunken driving for the second time, it would land the person in jail and any traffic offence committed for the second time would attract three times the fine.

All this would happen soon as the Traffic Department has decided to equip an additional 400 sub-inspectors with Black Berry in the next one week or ten days which would automatically put the person in the "habitual offender" category if one is caught for the second time for a traffic offence, Bangalore Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic and Administration) Praveen Sood said.

Some 280 traffic sub-inspectors in Bangalore are already armed with the Black Berry. "Caught for drunken driving for the second time will result in compulsory imprisonment," Sood added while addressing a symposium on Infrastructure Development and Oil Conservation organised by the Bangalore Management Association and Indian Oil Corporation Limited, here last night.

Sood said that 23 parking lots of major malls in the city would be shortly linked to the department's website through which the shoppers can inquire about availability of space before hand. Moreover, citizens would get SMS alerts on real time basis on traffic situation in the city by February.

Bangalore has a vehicle population of 35 lakh, which is growing by seven per cent to ten per cent annually. While 1,100 vehicles are getting registered in the city every day, parking space is "non-existent", Sood said.

Bangalore has 330 traffic signals and significantly all of them run on solar energy and by 2010, the number of these signals is expected to come down as more grade separators (under passes and flyovers) are slated to be opened, Sood added.