'Parents/vehicle owners liable for accidents caused by minors'

The Home Department has issued a circular to all police stations to file charge sheets against parents/vehicle owners over road accidents caused by underage riders/drivers.

Underage and student motorists are increasingly hitting the city’s streets, especially highways, NICE roads and outer ring roads and often without parental consent. The government seeks to make parents/vehicle owners liable.

The circular states that parents or owners giving vehicles to minors, who would not have obtained a driving licence, are risking the lives of people on roads. Life insurance companies do not compensate the families of the deceased or those injured when the rider/driver is a minor. Henceforth, underage riders/drivers must be dealt with seriously, the circular said.

The traffic police registered 2,140 cases of reckless and rash driving in the first eight months of this year. Of them, 1,340 cases were registered against minors. Police also prosecuted parents and owners of vehicles.

The number of cases registered against parents/vehicle owners was 10,359 in 2015, 9,022 in 2016 and 6,174 until August 2017.

DH News Service