Cases of underage driving surge in Bengaluru over a year

A horrific multi-vehicle crash near Hoskote in the early hours of Friday claimed seven lives, six of them teenagers - exposing a lethal trend of reckless behaviour and underage driving among the city’s youth.

The number of cases registered in Bengaluru City under the category of “underage driving” for various offences under the traffic violations such as overspeeding, signal jumping, no helmets, no seat belt etc has dramatically jumped in just one year from 197 cases in 2024 with a fine amount of Rs 3.66 lakh to 414 cases in 2025 collecting a fine amount of  Rs 4.16 lakh.

The cases in this category, registered till February 13 this year, stand at 62 with a fine collection of Rs 66,000. The cases registered in the previous years aren’t any better. They were 192 in 2022 and dropped to 95 in 2023.

Speaking to DH, Karthik Reddy, Joint Commissioner Traffic, (Bengaluru City), said the Bengaluru Traffic Police regularly conducts awareness drives, “When we book wheelie cases we also make the parents accused in the FIR. This is an indirect message that parents must not give vehicles to their children who have not crossed the age of 18 years. The first lessons and adherence to rules start at home.”      

The latest incident involved a Mahindra XUV 700 carrying six minors from Bengaluru on an unauthorised joyride. Travelling at high speeds on the Bengaluru-Devanahalli highway, the vehicle was captured on toll plaza CCTV footage at 4.15 am.

According to Bengaluru Rural SP Chandrakanth, the car first struck a motorcycle ridden by Gagan, a resident of Devanayakanahalli, killing him instantly. The SUV then rammed into a canter truck with such force that it dislodged the truck’s rear wheels before veering off and crashing into a median 150 meters away.

Families in shock

The aftermath has left families reeling in shock. Many parents were unaware their children had even left the house.

“We were all asleep. We didn’t even know he had left the house,” a relative of 16-year-old Arhan Sharief told. The family was reportedly preparing for a pilgrimage to Mecca scheduled for the following Monday. “He didn’t even know how to ride a two-wheeler properly,” the relative added.

Meanwhile, the mother of the biker Gagan, Lakshmidevi who is visually impaired recalled her last conversation with her son at 9 pm. “I told him not to go, but he said he had to finish his work. Now, my world is dark in every sense,” she sobbed.

Police revealed that the vehicle belonged to the uncle of one of the boys, Ayan, and had been taken without permission. None of the minors possessed a driving licence. 

A senior police officer attributed the surge to “easy access to vehicles, lack of parental supervision, and thrill-seeking influenced by social media.” The law, the officer said, is clear. The registered owner of the vehicle and the legal guardians are held strictly responsible for allowing a minor to drive.

The psychology 

City-based counsellor Ramya S highlighted significant parenting failures in the Gen Z era, noting that academic stress and deteriorating family values often leave children seeking validation from peers.

“Much like gadget addiction, joyriding is becoming a peer-pressure driven menace,” Ramya explained. “We are seeing a challenge where work-life imbalance leads to ‘over-freedom’ as a substitute for quality time. When parents don’t invest in building a child’s confidence and moral compass, the vacuum is filled by risky behaviors. For a teenager, the car becomes a symbol of status or manhood.”