More auto safety from November

More auto safety from November
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: It could end many problems with auto-drivers. And make even night travel safe as you have full information about the driver of the auto you take.

An auto driving license display card will be attached to all autorickshaws in Bangalore by the end of November 2005.

There are nearly 85,000 autorickshwas in Bangalore, driven by over lakh auto-drivers.

All auto-drivers have been told to get their DL display cards ready by the end of November.

M A Saleem, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic, East Zone, told this website’s newspaper that the Regional Transport Authority had ordered that every auto should display details behind the driver’s seat. “The new system will reduce passenger harassments cases. In case of harassment, passengers can note down the details given in the autorickshaw. By bringing in this system, we will have a database of every auto driver in the city,” he said. “In case of harassment, passengers can note down the number. It’s not easy to trace the auto driver only by the number.

The new system will help police nab illegal auto drivers as many autos have different owners and permits,” Saleem said.

“The new system will help rickshaw drivers in building a positive image with their customers. Some black sheep spoil the name of the entire auto driver community. The new system will help bring in transparency,” he added. H G Srinivas Murthy, working president of Auto Rickshaw Driver’s Union (ARDU) said that the new system would drastically bring down illegal autorickshaw driving in the city.

The new system emphasises passenger safety, he felt.

Registering all Bangalore auto drivers by November end will be difficult. “We have requested the traffic police not to fine drivers who have not got the new cards,” he said.

“The government should come down strictly on the transfer of the autorickshaw permits. The permit should become the permanent property of the driver,” he added.

Autorickshaws could gain more business with the new customer friendly identity cards. The traffic division has opened an auto desk at the office of the DCP, East Traffic Police Station, Infantry Road, to prepare the cards.