Underage riding cases cross 50 in five Traffic Police Stations; City Top Cop appeals to parents

Mysore/Mysuru: The Second Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Court in the city has imposed a fine of Rs. 25,000 on a two-wheeler owner for allowing his minor son to ride the vehicle on a public road.

The case was detected by Krishnaraja (KR) Traffic Sub-Inspector K.S. Ganesh during routine patrolling on Akkamahadevi Road in J.P. Nagar, where he found a minor riding a two-wheeler.

The Sub-Inspector stopped the vehicle, verified the rider’s age, seized the two-wheeler and later summoned the owner to the Police station. A report was subsequently submitted to the II JMFC Court.

Taking cognisance of the offence, the Court fined the vehicle owner Rs. 25,000 for permitting a minor to ride the two-wheeler and cautioned him against repeating such violations.

Meanwhile, City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar appealed to parents and the public not to give vehicles to underage children, stating that it is a criminal offence and poses a serious risk not only to minors but also to innocent road users.

“This year alone, around 10 such cases each have been registered at five Traffic Police Stations across the city,” she said.

Past incidents

Citing past incidents, the Police Commissioner recalled that about five years ago, a minor who had come to his grandparents’ house at Dattagalli for summer vacation lost his life after crashing a two-wheeler into a tree.

In another case, a minor driving a car rammed into a two-wheeler near Dandi Maramma Road on the Mysuru–Bengaluru Road, killing three members of a family on the spot.

She said a case was registered against an Assistant Sales Manager of a car company for allowing his minor son to drive a car brought for customer trials, which led to the fatal accident. While the minor was sent to a boys’ remand home, his father was remanded to judicial custody.

According to traffic rules and Supreme Court directions, it is a criminal offence to allow minors or persons without a valid driving licence to drive or ride vehicles. In such cases, the Police are required to register a case against the vehicle owner and seize the vehicle, even if no accident has occurred.