Traffic Adalat: Some suggestions

Sir,

In spite of great efforts put in by the City Police Commissioner, his Deputy, Traffic ACP and his band of subordinates, I must confess that the Traffic Adalat held at the Police Bhavan on Lalitha Mahal Road recently was not a great success as it should have been. That is only because of the utter lack of interest from the citizens of Mysuru. Sorry to say that there were more dignitaries on the stage and the press than the number of listening public.

Notwithstanding this, the Commissioner sportingly welcomed the audience, gave a short background and invited the audience to interact. Though I gave my views in short (because of MC’s time restriction), I am detailing some of my suggestions for consideration:

1. Having failed by “Saama, Daana, and Bhedha” methods, I believe “Danda” is the only remedy left. Punish the offenders where it hurts most. Confiscate their vehicles and withdraw their driving licence for the time being. Only when they pay a hefty fine and attend an hour’s video refresher course (shown about 4 times a week in every Traffic Police Station), their vehicle and the licence should be returned.
2. The professional drivers of city buses, private taxis and autorickshaws must also be asked to attend the video course on an annual basis and followed if necessary by a short road test. For normal licence holders, video course is a must at the time of renewal.
3. Testing of instructors of driving school must be very vigorous. Their knowledge of the rules must be up to date. For example when I learnt driving some 60 years back, honking was mandatory at every crossing. But the present convention is not to use the horn mainly to reduce noise pollution. Horn is not a driving device but an emergency device. Controlling the speed, using the indicators and following the rule “Right has the right of way” are the methods to negotiate a crossing.

Finally I want to make a small request to the authorities. Many people expressed that the venue was too far.

My suggestion is to hold the next meeting at a central location and give sufficient publicity so that you have at least 100 people attending.

– U.B. Acharya on e-mail, Jayalakshmipuram, 29.10.2017 

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