The February 1 deadline for imposing fine on motorists for not fastening seat belts has been relaxed for the time being.
Though the exact date for enforcing the rule is yet to be confirmed, City Police Commissioner Jyothi Prakash Mirji told Deccan Herald that the objective was not to collect fine but to bring about a change. “We want to ensure safe driving and sufficient time needs to be given to people to accept the change. For ages people have been driving without wearing seat belts. So they may take some time to get used to it. That doesn’t mean we are not serious about the rule.”
The City Police have been creating awareness on the need to wear seat belt for a month now and there has been a considerable change in the attitude of the drivers.
Mirji said to start with policemen will stop and alert the drivers and passengers to wear seat belts.
“We will crack the whip probably after a fortnight. Section 138 of the Indian Motor Vehicle Act provides for it. The provision has not been acted upon for decades. After a study of accident patterns and spinal injuries, we thought it’s time to enforce the law,” added Mirji.
It’s compulsory
Wearing seat belts is compulsory for both the driver and the co-passenger. But for vehicles manufactured before 1994, the rule doesn’t apply. It implies traffic cops won’t insist for seat belts for old model of vehicles which don’t have provision for seat belts. However, it is mandatory for the new vehicles. Hoodwinking traffic cops too would be impossible with closed circuit television cameras installed at vantage points across the City.
“We will send notices to violators with evidence. First time violators will have to cough up Rs 100 and if they are caught second time, they will have to pay a fine of Rs 300. Any repeat violations will result in forgoing the driving licence,”said DCP (Traffic-East) Muthana.
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