Ujjain : Thrill-seeking youngsters, most of them in their teens, zooming across lanes on busy streets on motorcycles and in cars, have become a common sight in the city. The growing menace of underage driving is now fast assuming startling proportions.
The reason is quite simple, as the years have passed society appears to have become more content about the phenomenon. While the law-men have failed to check underage drivers who feel it is cool to drive fast, parents, many of them well-to-do and hard pressed for time, have virtually encouraged their ruined child by handing over two-wheelers and cars to them at a young age. What they failed to realize, however, is that by doing so they are not only risking the lives of their wards but of others too.
Registrar, Vikram University, SC Arya said, parents are wholly and solely to be blamed for promoting underage driving as the kids are neither trained nor authorised to drive. They’re a great nuisance on the streets. One can spot so many of them anywhere one goes, zooming past speeding vehicles, breaking traffic rules, honking like crazy, teasing people on the way and being the cause of numerous road accidents, often fatal ones, said Samar Sahni, a resident. School authorities, too, cannot be spared the responsibility of checking underage driving. However, a number of school officials Free Press talked to expressed their helplessness in checking underage driving. In spite of the fact that most city schools don’t allow their students to bring in any vehicle, many of them manage to drive away to glory without a license by finding new ways to evade punishment. The most common way is to park their vehicles in nearby public places or markets, they revealed.
Experts say
Various studies reveal teen drivers aged 16 to 19 years are four times more likely to crash than their older counterparts. They are more likely to speed, jump red lights, take dangerous turns and drive after consuming alcohol or drugs. They are also more prone to road rage and volatility and are incapable of making split-second decisions. According to the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, no person under the age of 18 years shall drive a motor vehicle in any public place. A motorcycle without gears may be driven in a public place by a person only after attaining the age of 16 years. In case of an accident involving underage drivers, the father of the driver or/and the vehicle owner are liable to be booked under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Police fail to deter them
On the other hand, the cops have failed to curb the menace of underage driving on the city roads. Most of the time either the cops are busy penalizing villagers or handling the VIP movement for which the city is famous. The laxity got more severe when the reports of the traffic police revealed that only 16 challans for minor driving were issued by the cops in past two months. 5 challans were issued in month of September and 11 challans were issued in the month of September. Other than these 1154 were challans were issued for breaking traffic rules, SP MS Verma said.
