Helmetless riding led to most driving licence suspensions in Chandigarh last year

Riding without helmet resulted in the suspension of the maximum number of driving licences in the city last year.

According to the data compiled by the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA), 302 driving licences were suspended from January 1 to December 31 last year for various violations, against 689 in 2023.

As compared to previous years, the number of driving licence suspensions has come down in the city. Officials say it is due to monitoring by nearly 225 Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) cameras installed at 47 junctions to capture traffic violations in the city.

Last year, 196 licences were suspended for the offence of riding without a helmet. In 2023 too, most licences (457) were suspended for the offence. A total of 55 driving licences were suspended for drunken driving last year against 74 in 2023. Further, 20 licences were suspended for speeding last year, against 107 in 2023. Last year, nine licences were suspended for the use of mobile phone while driving. The number was 18 a year before.

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, speeding, drunken driving and jumping the red light. For riding without a helmet, the driving licence is suspended for three months, and a fine is imposed on the offender.

In 2022, as many as 1,139 driving licences were suspended for various violations, including helmetless riding (689), speeding (286), use of mobile phone while driving (62), drunken driving (22) and jumping red light (28).