News: 432 fined in two days for driving on wrong side in Gurugram, say traffic police-16-05-2022
Around 15% of the road fatalities in the city happen due to wrong-way driving, according to the traffic police officials
At least 432 people were fined till Saturday for driving on the wrong side during the road safety drive launched by the Gurugram traffic police on Friday to reduce accidents in the city.
Wrong-way driving is a major issue in the city, even on the U-turn flyovers at Shankar Chowk and Iffco Chowk, which have been constructed and designed solely for unidirectional traffic, said the traffic police officials.
Ravinder Singh Tomar, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) traffic, said that the road safety drive has been introduced across the city with a focus on key spots such as Rajiv Chowk, Hero Honda Chowk, Golf Course Road, Vikas Marg, Netaji Subhash Marg, Sohna Road, and Sector 30/31 dividing road among other stretches where traffic violations are rampant.
Around 15% of the road fatalities in the city happen due to wrong-way driving, according to the traffic police officials.
“With the help of feedback from the traffic police marshalls on ground, as well as through analysing data on road accidents, we observed that wrong-way driving at various points in the city has taken many lives. So, we have started an indefinite road safety drive to keep a check on drivers and reduce such traffic violations across the city,” said Tomar.
Out of the total 432 fines issued for wrong-way driving in two days, 255 were issued on Friday and 177 on Saturday. The traffic police will tabulate such cases for Sunday on Monday, said the officials.
Tomar also said that the road safety drive will be conducted at least once every month, until the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) completes its project on installing CCTV cameras on 90 key stretches in the city, which will help in monitoring all traffic violations — including wrong-way driving — 24x7. An e-challan will be generated against an offender immediately.
Nearly 20% of the fines issued by the Gurugram traffic police account for wrong-way driving, according to Tomar.
32,618 fines were issued for wrong-way driving in 2021, 39,765 in 2020, and 49,761 in 2019. There were fewer cases of wrong-way driving in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-induced lockdowns, as the traffic volume was significantly lower than usual, said the officials.
On Sunday, the Gurugram traffic police officials also said that this year, 14,000 fines have been issued for wrong-way driving as on Saturday.
The Gurugram traffic police issues a fine of ₹500 for wrong-way driving, and ₹1,500 for a subsequent violation. A wrong-way driving violation can also lead to termination of the licence, and even an FIR is registered against an offender for rash driving under Section 279 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Tomar said that a violator in addition to the wrong-way driving also pays ₹5,000 for dangerous driving, and ₹10,000 for a subsequent violation.
Sewa Ram, an urban transport systems design expert and faculty member of School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), Delhi, said that the traffic police need to ensure that on-ground fines for traffic violations persist even though digital surveillance is in place nowadays. “Visible prosecution has a bigger psychological impact, and deters drivers from committing traffic violations. Traffic police need to keep a check on wrong-way driving — both digitally and on the ground. Enforcement over a sustained period is the only effective solution to counter the violations,” said Ram.
