Helmetless ride behind most driving licence suspensions

Riding a two-wheeler without a helmet was the violation that led to the maximum driving licence suspensions in the city this year.

Advertisement

According to the data compiled by the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA), 352 driving licences were suspended from January 1 to December 15 this year for various violations against 689 last year.

This year, 225 permits were suspended for the offence of riding without a helmet. Last year too, most licences (457) were suspended for the offence. Further, 25 licences were suspended for overspeeding this year, against 107 in the previous year. Nine licences were suspended for the use of mobile phone while driving this year. The number was 18 last year. A total of 78 driving licences were suspended for drunk driving this year against 74 last year. Section 19 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, along with Rule 21 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, recommend the suspension of driving licence for up to six months for violations such as the use of mobile phones while driving, overspeeding, drunk driving and jumping the red light. For riding without a helmet, the driving licence is suspended for three months, and a fine is imposed.

In the total cases of suspension in 2024, only 186 licences have been returned so far. Nearly 225 Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) cameras have been installed at 47 junctions under Chandigarh Smart City Limited. These cameras capture traffic violations.

A many as 1,139 driving licences were suspended in 2022 for various violations, including helmetless riding (689), overspeeding (286), using mobile phone (62), drunk driving (22) and jumping red light (28). In 2021, as many as 4,057 driving licences were suspended for various violations. These included 2,587 for riding without a helmet or triple riding, 858 for overspeeding, 343 for using mobile phone, six for drunk driving and 147 for jumping red light.