MORE VIOLATORS, MORE PENALTY

MORE VIOLATORS, MORE PENALTY
Are you among the increasing number of traffic violators? You can now go online to pay the fine. But be careful not to break rules again: hi-tech cops have all your records stored
A T Subramanya | TNN

Bangalore: The bad news is traffic violations in city are on the rise. The good news is fine collection too is on the rise, in fact, at an all-time high, though it could be much more.
In 2008, on an average, 756 signal jumping, 656 wrong parking, 236 dangerous driving and 83 drunken driving cases were registered every day. Fine payment through BangaloreOne centres was just Rs 2.89 lakh in 2007 but touched Rs 9 lakh in 2008. When the traffic police obtained a bailable warrant against 96 offenders for not paying fines and announced they will continue to do so on December 31, the fine amount realized in the first 10 days of 2009 was a whopping Rs 1.5 lakh through BangaloreOne centres.
The amount collected for traffic violations in 2008 was a whopping Rs 27.5 crore compared to Rs 19.3 crore in 2007. This 43% increase over one year is the highest amount of fine realized in traffic police history. The department expects this to go up this year.
Even the number of traffic violations booked under the M V Act, K P Act and towing cases in 2008 is about 19 lakh as against 13 lakh in 2007. The numbers show a nearly 36% rise in number of cases registered for the year.
Strict enforcement is said to be the reason for this but the numbers are not even 10% of actual traffic violations. Additional commissioner of police (traffic & security) Praveen Sood told TOI: “The number of cases registered is just the tip of iceberg in terms of violations. These statistics just show the number of cases registered but violations go unnoticed or ignored.’’
Sood said the job of traffic police is not just to enforce rules but also maintain vehicle movement. With increasing violations, the department is planning to increase enforcement initiatives with strict regularity.
With increased enforcement, number of fatal accidents has come down, he pointed out. Even with the inclusion of new areas under the city police jurisdiction — like Devanahallli and Chikkajala — the number of fatal accidents has come down to 864 in 2008 from 957 in 2007.
Technology is helping the police keep track of movement and enforcement. With video surveillance cameras, BlackBerries and speed guns around, the number of cases can only go up.