CHENNAI: Last week, after stinging responses to their proposal, the city police was quick to backtrack on an announcement to issue challans to motorists who exceed the 40 km/hr speed limit.

There is no doubt that that the traffic police should take steps to reduce road accidents, especially given that Chennai continuously ends up on the podium of road accident statistics among cities, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

One of the methods the police have devised is to levy hefty fines. And as Indian citizens, the only thing we can do is pay the fine, and of course, whine about it at every given opportunity.

A month ago, when a group of reporters had met a senior cop, the latter was supported penalising for every misdemeanour under the Motor Vehicle Act.

For which a reporter asked: “But, what about the bad roads? The poorly-laid ones are death traps by design?”

One thing that denizens would agree on is that the city roads, especially in the interior areas, are unmotorable and risky to commuters. The recent downpour has proven that, again.

To his credit, the cop acknowledged that bad roads do lead to accidents sometimes, but also expressed the apparent helplessness of the police force by saying: “There must be some civil liability.”

Forget speeding, citizens could be fined for strange number plates and honking unnecessarily, but road contractors and government agencies, who dig them up perennially, only have civil liability.

— Srikkanth Dhasarathy, Chennai