Traffic drive exists, for common man

Singh says he made it the top of his agenda, with the result that 8216;8216;we issued 6,054 challans for helmets in June alone. May saw nearly 8,000 challans. The total figure is nearly 30,000 for this year8217;8217;. From what his men tell him, Singh says, 8216;8216;I can vouch that 60 per cent of the city8217;s two-wheeler riders now wear helmets.8217;8217;

The other violations under the scanner are the tendency to overshoot stop-lines at traffic intersections, talking on mobile phones while driving and not wearing a seatbelt. 8216;8216;People are always in a tearing hurry. Hence they will cross the stop-line at intersections, completely blocking the zebra line meant for pedestrians. Now two policemen hold ropes at zebra crossings to keep traffic behind stop-lines,8217;8217; says Singh.

The big problem remains how to target politicians who, Singh admits, often have no numberplates or an improper one on their vehicles. However, 8216;8216;contrary to popular belief8217;8217;, they have come down on this as well, he adds. 8216;8216;As many as 100 such vehicles were challaned in June alone.8217;8217;

The traffic police are also targeting wrongly-parked vehicles. 8216;8216;We impound them, and these can be then released by the Regional Transport Officer only. The fine is a huge Rs 2,500,8217;8217; says Singh. In June, the department collected Rs 5 lakh thus.