Mysuru, Nov. 15 – The City Traffic Police conducted a special drive against private vehicles displaying white number plate, mainly vans being used for commercial purposes, carrying school and college students, flouting all the rules to the wind.

The drive was conducted this morning from 8.30 am to 10 am, with Police personnel drawn from Devaraja, Krishnaraja (KR), Narasimharaja (NR), Siddarthanagar and V.V. Puram Traffic Police Stations, deputed near educational institutions, to warn drivers of such vehicles to adhere to the rules.

As the vehicles were carrying school children, the driverswere spared from action.

The drive will be conducted on Monday (Nov. 17) too. From Tuesday onwards, the Police will be taking a swift action, by imposing fine on errant drivers, besides seizing the vehicles.

What rule says…

The Transport Department rule states that four-wheelers sporting white number plates should carry restricted number of passengers (4+1 including driver in cars and 5 or 8 including driver in vans) and should be used only for personal purposes while those with yellow number plate can be used as cab, goods transportation and for other purposes, as prescribed by the law.

Authorised school vans

In the case of authorised school and college vans, they will be painted yellow, looking distinctly apart from other vehicles, for the easy identification of the same. However, firstly, not all the students opt for school transportation, taking into consideration the van fees, which some of the parents feel exorbitant per month. Secondly, for the boarding and alighting point, which will be quite far from home.

Private vans

While in the case of private vans, they can navigate through narrow and congested lanes and the children are picked and dropped right in front of the home, with the monthly amount paid towards the service, quite lesser than the school van, which the parents feel as affordable.

Autos…

Amidst this, there is a growing concern about school and college children being ferried in autorickshaws. Maximum three passengers can travel in an auto but eight to 10 children can be seen, with additional foldable seating facility provided to accommodate them. The protruding bags and lunch bags, hanging from the mirrors on the either side of the vehicle, is a matter of grave concern. But, there is little or no action yet, considering the safety of the children.

Riding bikes to college

Besides, the PUC students, who will be under the age group of 18 years, riding motorcycles and scooters to college, is another matter of concern. They will be either having a Learner’s Licence (LLR) or not, but still, the concern is about the growing trend, with fatal accidents involving college students reportedly being high.

RTO speaks…

Regional Transport Officer (RTO) West, Chamarajapuram, C.N. Ramachandra said, “non-commercial vehicles (private vehicles) are not permitted to carry over capacity. Most importantly, the paint of the vehicle should be changed to yellow. The service operators should have entered into an agreement with school management and parents. In case of any accident, those with white board cannot claim insurance cover for the passengers being carried against the restricted capacity, except for the permitted number of passengers.”