In Faridabad, underage driving cause for concern

Bijendra Ahlawat

Minor children, especially students, driving vehicles in violation of law has emerged as a serious concern in Faridabad. The traffic police, school authorities and even parents appear not to be much bothered about the measures necessary to curb the dangerous practice. 

“As there are no regular checks on minors  driving  vehicles and underage drivers, traffic rules are openly flouted, exposing young children and other commuters to serious risk,” says Satinder Singh, a social activist. He adds that though most of the challans the police issue every month are against two-wheelers, hardly any underage child or his or her parent has been penalised till date. 

“As most of the minors driving two-wheelers do not wear helmets, they are most vulnerable to fatal accidents. Unfortunately, both parents and school authorities seem to ignore this serious issue,”he adds.

Ajay Bahl, another social activist, says that the road safety campaign conducted by the district administration from time to time appears to be working only on paper. 

According to the Road Accident Statistics, 1,214 road crashes occur in India every day. Twenty children under the age of 14 die in road accidents in the country every day. One serious road accident occurs in the country every minute and 16 persons die on Indian roads every hour.

Varun Sheokand, a local resident, says that the laidback approach of both parents and school authorities is responsible for this dangerous trend. The police also tend to take the matter lightly. 

AK Gaur, a senior citizen, says that parents should not give two-wheelers to their minor children till they hold a valid licence and are mature enough to drive responsibly. 

“The government has implemented the law for underage driving, according to which the guardian or owner of the vehicle shall be deemed to be guilty in cases of offence by juveniles. The implementation of the law cannot be successful till everyone concerned is serious about it. The juveniles shall be tried under the Juvenile Justice Act,” he says. There is need to sensitise children and their parents about traffic rules and dangers involved in careless driving. The traffic police can train students in road safety measures. Children can be taken to road safety learning parks for training, he adds. “Parents should also be involved in road safety programmes so that they know when to give vehicles to their children,” says a teacher of a private school. The traffic police need to organise vehicle training sessions in schools and give students demonstrations on safe driving skills, before taking strict action against offenders,” she adds.

“We are vigilant about minor children driving vehicles and have warned underage drivers and their parents against violation of traffic norms, but many of them still do not abide by rules,” says a traffic policeman. 

He adds that it is mainly the duty of parents and schools to ensure the safety of their wards while commuting to and fro schools. As many as 47,819 challans have been issued to two-wheeler drivers till June 30 this year.

Students drive own vehicles to schools

Many students commute to schools in the city driving their own vehicles. They tend to be overtaken by the thrill of over-speeding, also putting the lives of other commuters at risk. — Varun Sheokand, local resident