Indore: Paying a fine is ‘fine’ rather than following traffic rules in the city

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Even in times of high inflation, it seems Indoris are more comfortable paying a huge amount of money as a fine rather than following traffic rules like vigilant citizens. By being more law-abiding, they would not only save their hard-earned money, but also the lives of people who die in frequent road accidents due to other people’s mistakes.

According to the traffic police, motorists paid a fine of Rs 1.91 crore in just the past four months. The highest number of challans was slapped on two-wheelers (14,483), followed by cars/jeeps (11,714) and a total amount of Rs 1.91 crore was collected as penalty. This could easily have been avoided if the commuters had followed traffic norms.

Even after strict norms were imposed, school vehicles are also seen violating traffic rules, as 439 challans were slapped on such vehicles which pose a potential life threat to a large number of children who board these vehicles.

To know the reason behind the frequent traffic violations, Free Press asked commuters at the Palasia intersection about the issue, but they were found making lame excuses to justify their wrongdoings. They are brusque—even defiant—while making such excuses. One commuter said, insisting on anonymity, “Wearing a helmet while driving irritates me and distracts me from driving safely.” Another said, “Jumping a red light is not at all dangerous. You just have to cross the intersection carefully which can save time.”

However, when the authorities are asked about the increasing number of traffic violations, they say they are taking stern action against violators, besides organising awareness campaigns on road safety. Unfortunately, as the figures depict, Indoris are ignoring all these efforts made by the traffic police and continuing their violation, putting many lives in jeopardy.

Fines collected month-wise

Months- Fine collected

January- Rs 3,090,750

February- Rs 4,405,500

March- Rs 5,333,000

April- Rs 6,329,500

Total Rs 19,158,750

Facts about road accidents

1. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), accident-related deaths are the eighth leading cause of death and the biggest cause of death among children aged 5-14 and people aged 15-29. Globally, 54% people in all accident-related deaths are pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists

2. Road accidents in India kill almost 1.5 lakh people annually. Accordingly, India accounts for almost 11% of all accident-related deaths in the world

3. The WHO report said, ‘India has the highest number of casualties in road accidents. The country has only 1 per cent of the world’s vehicles, but accounts for 11 per cent of the world’s deaths in road accidents. There are 53 road accidents happening every hour in the country and one death occurs every four minutes’

(Contributed by Shivani Batham)