800 trucks seized every month

A recklessly driven cement mixer truck mowed down a 19-year-old girl near Lalbagh on Sunday morning. With her sister, she was going to Lalbagh on a scooter.

Transport officials classify trucks as heavy vehicles and restrict their movement within the city.

In Bengaluru alone, violations pertaining exclusively to heavy vehicles add up to 5,000 a month. About 800 vehicles are confiscated every month. “These figures indicate that drivers of heavy vehicles don’t really fear the law. We regularly check and seize their vehicles and recommend cancellation of licences for habitual offenders,” says a senior official in the enforcement wing of the transport department.

Many drivers just go to court, pay a fine, and get back to violating rules again.

“The fine ranges from Rs 2,000 to Rs 15,000, depending on the gravity of the offence. For some offences, the fine is just Rs 200. These amounts don’t really bother habitual offenders who pay up and move on,” he explains.

Higher fines, once approved in the Motor Vehicles Act, will instil fear in drivers, he reckons.

Police have no bay to keep confiscated vehicles. “We currently park all such vehicles at the BMTC bus depots. We don’t have a space of our own,” he says.

The most common offences are driving without licence, tax default and carrying excess passengers.

No training

Drivers of heavy vehicles are not given any training once they get a licence. When it is time to renew licences, they just attend a day-long course, offered by the transport department with Ashok Leyland.

What happened on July 22

Preethi, a 19-year-old girl was killed on the spot and her sister was injured when a concrete mixer truck knocked down the scooter they were riding.
The sisters were on their way to Lalbagh for a walk when the rashly driven truck mowed them down. Driver Srinivasu did not help the girls get to a hospital.

Charges against truck driver

Srinivasu, the driver of the cement mixer that killed the 19-year-old girl, was arrested. Police have booked him for rash driving, causing death by a rash and negligent act, not taking the accident victim to the hospital, and attempting to run away.

Most common violations

-Driving without a licence.

-Underage driving.

-Driving using another person’s licence.

-Dangerous driving.

-Driving a truck with a car driving licence

-Carrying excess passengers.

-Driving without a number plate.

KSRTC bus drivers get occasional refresher training. They are taught to follow traffic rules, and refrain from rash driving. They also acquire soft skills: how to talk with the public and do yoga. The training bus has an ‘L’ board, and is dedicated for the lessons. Drivers of private trucks, on the other hand, undergo no training, according to transport officials.