Open house: What should be done to check underage and helmetless driving?
Strict law and public participation required
Underage and helmetless drivers are two groups of road users who pose significant risks to themselves and others. Underage drivers, who lack the experience and judgement required to safely navigate complex situations, should be barred from operating any type of vehicle because they are more prone to accidents. According to research, young drivers engage in risky behaviours such as speeding or tailgating because the adolescent brain is still developing. As a result, teenagers have a higher chance of being involved in accidents than others. Though driving without a helmet is at best a self-inflicted offence that has no effect on others on the road, it should be discouraged because without a helmet, even minor accidents can result in traumatic brain injuries with long-term consequences. A two-wheeler driver should remember that a helmet provides critical protection by absorbing the impact of a fall or collision and lowering the risk of serious head injuries. The Ludhiana traffic police have been apprehending underage and helmetless drivers, but many traffic rule violators are still at large. This necessitates the implementation of stricter traffic laws, education, and public participation. By combining these efforts, we can reduce the number of underage and helmetless drivers and improve road safety.
Novin Christopher
Conduct checking around schools
Parents are not paying attention to whether their underage children are engaging in driving vehicles, including two-wheelers. In this fast-paced world, parents often do not have time and allow their underage children to drive two-wheelers or even cars in ignorance. Riding on two-wheelers is an exciting experience for schoolchildren, and they end up driving too fast. These children might not be mature enough to make quick decisions in cases of emergency, due to which they sometimes end up losing their precious lives or those of others. It is the collective responsibility of parents, teachers, local government, and the police, too, to keep children from driving. Parents should keep a vigil on their children and not allow them to drive motorcycles and scooters if they are of legal age. Parents must counsel and discourage their children from using motorcycles or scooters even if their friends use them to commute to and from school. Teachers should give lectures and educate students about the bad consequences of driving before attaining 18 years of age. They should show documentaries on the issue. The police must take strict action against children who engage in underage driving and their parents. The vehicles of such people should be seized and heavy fines imposed. There must be strict rules and regulations for driving underage, and the police should conduct checking near schools and colleges. All citizens should come together to educate the minors and make them aware of the ill effects of driving underage. By taking these measures we shall save many lives.
Mohd Saleem Farooqui
Punish offending children, parents
In India, wearing helmets while riding a scooter or bike is mandated by law, and the violators can attract a fine of up to Rs 1,000. The traffic police can also impound the vehicle or suspend the driving licence of the offender. The helmet must be securely fastened to the wearer’s head. The helmet must weigh within 1.20 kg and must be between 20 to 25 mm thick. The helmet must have the mandatory ISI mark. Unfortunately, it has become a fad among underage students to drive bikes and cars. They flaunt their vehicles, jump red lights, take illegal turns, use mobile phones while driving, and often indulge in reckless driving, putting their own as well as others’ lives in danger. Parents become equally responsible for the crime by giving vehicles to their underage children. To curb the menace, we should keep pestering the authorities concerned, especially the police, to check rash and underage driving. Special nakas should be set up to check underage driving on a regular basis. Parents should also stop giving vehicles to their underage children. At the school level, seminars should be organised to teach students the ill effects of underage driving. Schools should ban the entry of vehicles being driven by underage students. The government should enact laws for stringent punishment for parents as well as children.
RS SEMBHI
Use technology to curb offences
In order to successfully reduce underage and helmetless driving in Ludhiana, a multifaceted strategy is required. Reckless behaviour can be discouraged by strict enforcement of traffic laws, which includes heavy fines and vehicle impoundment. Prevention can be further improved by increasing police presence on the highways, especially close to colleges and schools. Technology such as helmet detection cameras and facial recognition can also be used to identify offenders and quicken enforcement. Campaigns to raise public awareness of the risks associated with underage and helmetless driving are also essential. Numerous platforms, such as social media, educational institutions, and community events, can be used to carry out these efforts. These efforts can have a greater impact if parents and community leaders are involved. Ludhiana can drastically lower the rate of underage and helmetless driving by integrating stringent enforcement, public education, and technology developments, making the roads safer for all.
Tamanpreet Kaur Khangura
Admn, citizens should work together
Underage and helmetless drivers are both threats on the road. To curb this problem, the administration and citizens should work together. Many times it has been seen that traffic police do not stop girls who wrap dupattas around their heads and do not wear helmets, making a mockery of the law. This needs to be looked into. Additionally, parents try to evade a few responsibilities by allowing their underage children to use two-wheelers.
Sarita Minhas
School authorities should step up
Some people, especially schoolchildren, not wearing helmets while driving is a major concern among residents. To resolve this problem, parents must counsel their children and ensure their kids, driving two-wheelers, use helmets. The help of the local police must also be sought. The police must make more nakas, especially near schools at opening and closing times, and punish offenders. There can be a light fine for the first-time offenders, followed by a heavy fine next time for not using helmets while driving. Once fined, these persons and kids will be careful and likely not repeat such acts. Paying fines will put a burden on the parents, who will in turn make sure their children wear helmets. Further, assistance from school authorities can be sought. The teachers can make repeated announcements during the starting prayer in the school. The school authorities may also give the responsibility of keeping a vigil on helmetless drivers to teachers. These teachers can then inform parents about this lapse, and the parents can confiscate their child's two-wheelers. Also, educational progammes can be started in schools so that kids learn about the law regarding the use of helmets. These additional steps will make the kids more responsible.
Gautam Dev
Police should run awareness campaigns
Underage driving is very risky for underage drivers and other people because they drive without caring about their lives. Although the state police are working actively, they are not able to produce results good enough to curb the menace of underage and helmetless driving completely. Before becoming more strenuous, the police should run a campaign to make parents and students aware of the problem because collective efforts can bring better results. Helmets can protect us from head injuries during accidents, and lives can be saved. The state police should arrange helmets for people who are held without one and can charge them for it. It should be compulsory to wear a helmet because life is precious.
Sucha Singh Sagar
Improve public transportation
As per the amended Section 129 of the Motor Vehicles Act, driving a scooter or bike without a helmet is a serious traffic violation and can attract a fine of up to Rs 1,000. The traffic police can also impound the vehicle or suspend the driving licence of the offender. Despite strict orders by the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding helmets being mandatory for everyone above four years of age while riding two-wheelers or pillion, cases of helmetless driving continue in the industrial hub. The Ludhiana police have started a drive to crack down on underage driving and issued 215 challans against violators in the last three days. As part of the initiative, the police have decided to strictly implement provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act, but complete success in this regard is elusive. To tackle this menace authorities should start a multipronged strategy like ,parents should take responsibility of their wards to educate them about dangers of underage and helmet less driving, school management should make the use of transport vehicles for students a compulsory feature, vioalators should be challaned, traffic police should install regular nakas to infuse punctuality among students to abide by the traffic rules, offenders should be punished as per existing laws, traffic rules should be displayed on big flex boards outside schools, public transportation should be enhanced on the routes of schools, awareness drives should be started periodically for safe driving, elected representatives and prominent citizens should also play their role in this regard as they have mass appeal. All these measures have the potential to mitigate the risks of underage driving.
Sukhdev Sharma
Elders should guide children
Young children start to drive vehicles for various reasons. For some, it begins with driving themselves to coaching centres because their elders are otherwise occupied. Some learn to drive vehicles as an escape mechanism. Some are handed a vehicle because parents give in to their children's demands. Attention needs to be given to curbing the use of underage driving as a coping mechanism. Parents need to take responsibility. Once a child learns to ride/drive a vehicle in the local area, they will take it on the highway. We have to actively teach the children why underage driving is prohibited and why it is a dangerous gimmick. Schools should provide basic road safety education. A child learns from their surroundings; thus, it should involve guidance and dedication towards safe driving. The people who are not underage should understand themselves that a helmet is for their protection.
Tanvi Aggarwal
Parents should be more responsible
Underage driving is an offence, yet parents allow their children to drive, posing a threat to themselves and others, too. Sometimes pedestrians lose their lives to this irresponsible behaviour. Parents should be held liable in cases of underage driving for allowing them to do so. Teachers and elders must inform children who drive before attaining the age of 18 how it could be fatal for them. Some short documentaries must be shown to them so that they may be aware of the ill effects of underage driving. The Transport Department should challan violators along with their parents and impose a heavy fine. Traffic police should release advisories to parents to cooperate in this mission to save lives.
FARZANA KHAN
SUSTAINED CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY: CP
WE are undertaking a sustained campaign to spread awareness, educate, and enforce the rules of the land. Besides holding awareness camps at educational institutions to educate students, our officials are conducting regular challaning drives against violators. We also urge parents and teachers to restrain the children below the age of 18 from driving vehicles.
Kuldeep Singh Chahal, COMMISSIONER OF POLICE
