Double trouble Fake number plates, overloading spark road safety crisis

What began as a routine inspection by transport officials turned into a major expose of a dangerous and illegal practice plaguing Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district — tipper trucks operating with fake number plates and gross overloading, putting public safety and law enforcement at serious risk.

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The startling discovery was made on Sunday when a team from the Regional Transport Office (RTO), en route to attend a legal awareness camp in Shillai, intercepted an overloaded tipper truck. Moments later, another tipper bearing the exact same registration number was caught nearby. Upon searching the second vehicle, officials recovered four additional number plates, revealing a deliberate ploy to mislead authorities and escape liability in the event of road accidents.

According to RTO Sona Chauhan, the finding confirms a systematic misuse of number plates. “The use of duplicate and fake plates clearly indicates an intentional effort to bypass the law. This is a criminal matter and has now been referred to the police,” she said. Chauhan also noted that future enforcement efforts will ensure that only valid and authorised number plates are used on heavy vehicles.

Additionally, the department learned that some tippers carry mechanics onboard to quickly repair breakdowns in hilly terrain, allowing overloaded vehicles to continue uninterrupted. During Sunday’s operation, several overloaded tractors were also seized and fines totalling Rs 4.5 lakh were imposed.

Meanwhile, the Sirmaur police have already intensified efforts to curb overloading. In a separate operation few days prior, Superintendent of Police Nishchint Singh Negi led an overnight crackdown in the Rampur Ghat area of Paonta Sahib, resulting in the seizure of 21 overloaded tippers, one of which was also booked under the Mining Act.

The incident highlights a grave threat not just to road safety, but also to legal enforcement. The use of fake number plates hinders accident investigations and offers cover for unlawful activity. Authorities are now being urged to implement advanced monitoring systems — such as GPS tracking, RFID-based scanning, and artificial intelligence (AI) enabled checkpost surveillance — to dismantle such dangerous operations.