Licence rule will reduce accidents

Principal Secretary/Transport Commissioner and Road Safety Commissioner Dayanand Kataria, responding to a plea moved by Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners’ Federation and a couple of PILs seeking to quash the notification, said, “Our efforts in reducing the road accidents may cause some discomfort. But, in a State which has the highest fatalities in the country, some discomfort may have to be borne to instill road discipline and safety.”

Referring to the recommendations made by the Supreme Court constituted committee on road safety, he said from January to July 2017 ,the police had booked 5.8 lakh traffic offences. But these could not be referred to the RTOs for suspension/cancellation of driving licences due to non-availability of driving licence at the time of booking the offence.

Also noting that out of the 39,082 road accidents that took place this year until July as many as 9,881 persons had been killed and around 45,000 persons had suffered injuries, the principal secretary said the SC committee through various communication had expressed displeasure on the increasing number of fatalities and rapped the State for not implementing its directions on suspension of driving licences for traffic offences.

The counter also, on pointing out that the transport department has not invented any new rule but has only sought to enforce the existing provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, said Sec 130 (1) makes it mandatory to produce the driving licence if demanded by a police officer in uniform and Rule 139 is applicable only if the driver has been dispossessed of the driving licence by any procedure.

Hence, when the Passport Act and Foreigners Act mention that the passport must be produced before an authority for example immigration office, it means the original passport only and not duplicate or a copy, the counter added.