Random checking on roads

These days, traffic cops seem to be present almost everywhere in the City. They are seen, especially in groups, on busy streets randomly checking motorists and even questioning them for no reason at all. This happens especially on Commercial Street, Hennur Cross, Cubbon Road and Mekhri Circle.

Girish N, a resident of Vidyaranpura, says that he has  noticed this a lot, and has had his share of nasty encounters with the traffic police. “Since I have sun film on my vehicle, I was stopped and asked to pay Rs 300. This happened twice in the first week of January. Though I tried telling the traffic police official that I had the option to pay the fine in court, the official said that it wasn’t a possibility and just kept arguing,” shares Girish.

He adds that there is no point trying to clarify something with the traffic cops since they always have their own opinion. Apart from stopping motorists, people have also noticed that there are groups of police officials just standing and chatting on the roads.

“At Nagarbhavi Circle, I’ve noticed a group of traffic police officials regularly, who just stand and chat. Even when people take a turn, where there is ‘no turn’
signboard, and talk on mobile phones while driving or riding, they are not stopped. I wonder, what they’re trying to prove with their presence,” says Sandesh PS, a resident of Nagarbhavi.

He adds that he and his friends have been harassed by the traffic police a number of times. “The way they look down upon people and treat them like criminals is just wrong. People can’t just be stopped. But there have been times when I have just been asked to show my licence and vehicle papers, for no reason at all,” he says.

While a check on drunk driving is a must, there is a proper way to do the same, shares Vijay Varman. “I work on night shifts often, and was stopped once to be checked. The official asked me to do different tasks to check if I was intoxicated. But I refused because of the way the traffic official was behaving. Most of the constables in the traffic department are very arrogant,” says Vijay.

Vijay adds that he commutes from Yeshwantpur to BTM Layout frequently, and has observed that there are a lot of traffic officials on the road. There are also many people who approve of this move by the traffic department. “I haven’t seen the traffic police stopping people for random things. There are sometimes traffic blocks, which I have noticed near 15th Cross, Malleswaram  due to police checking but it is cleared as soon as traffic piles up,” says Akshay Borundia, a professional.

The traffic department clearly states that the police officials have been intensely checking for sun films on vehicles. “There was a special drive held for this. We have booked 17,300 cases from January 2 to January 8, with a fine amount of Rs 23,00,000 collected, where first offences were charged Rs 100 and repeated offences Rs 300,” explains B Dayananda, additional commissioner of police (traffic).

Ask him if the sudden move from the department to send out more officials on the field is to meet any monetary targets, he clarifies, “Nobody expects any remuneration from us and thus there is no such deadline. We are just a regulatory department and we’re carrying out our duty.”