The drive against rash and negligent driving initiated by the Hyderabad Traffic Police in February this year seems to have had a positive impact on youngsters. The number of offenders, caught and sent for counseling sessions since February, has come down drastically.
In February when the drive began, 4,526 offenders and 2,771 parents attended counseling sessions at the Traffic Training Institutes (TTI) at Gosha Mahal and Begumpet.
Those booked for underage driving must bring their parents for counselling but for the others, it is just a matter of choice. The numbers show that underage driving was very much prevalent when the drive was initiated.
“We had children as young as 12 attending counselling sessions with their parents,” said an official at one of the TTIs. However , compared to February, only 597 cases were registered in September this year. Along with these offenders, 560 parents attended counselling sessions during the month.
Most of the cases pertain to speed violations or stunts on roads. Such offences fall under Section 184 (rash and negligent driving) of the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act. “We don’t see many repeat offenders here, which means we are doing a good job,” claimed a counsellor.
The traffic police department views the steady decrease in numbers as a mark of success. In March, 3,260 people were counselled, and with them 2035 parents attended counselling sessions. April, however, had the highest number of offenders, as 5287 persons were counselled, with 2333 parents.
Ramakrishna, a youngster who attended a counselling session told City Express, “the videos that are shown are so disturbing that one can’t help but fear how an accident will affect his life.
” He was booked for violating the speed limit. According to police officials at the TTI in Gosha Mahal, about 20-25 are counselled on an average everyday. “At one point of time, we had around 100 offenders every day besides their parents,” they said.
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