Days after two eminent Martahi actors, Anand Abhyankar, Akshay Pendse and Pendse's son, were killed in an accident on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, those part of Marathi film and TV industry raised questions about actions initiated against truck and tempo drivers for violating of traffic norms.
Officials of the Highway Police claimed they had taken action against over 20,000 heavy vehicles in the last one year.u00a0
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But they said the fine amount, which is merely a few hundreds, that depends on the offence committed is not enough deter drivers of heavy vehicles from flouting norms.
As per the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, fine for offences like absence of reflector, tail lamp, indicator or lane cutting is just 100 Rs. While the fine over speeding is Rs 200, offenders are charged Rs 500 for dangerous driving.
Highway police officials said most of the accidents occurred due to over speeding, lane cutting and misjudgement of drives of cars due to absence of reflectors on heavy vehicles.
“We have been taking continual action against errant truck drivers by conducting special drives or surprise visits. The section near Amrutanjan Bridge is common for Pune-Mumbai Express highway and the old Pune-Mumbai highway and it causes heavy traffic congestion during night. Besides heavy vehicles, cars too don’t follow lane discipline,” Dilip Bhujbal, SP of Highways, said.
Highway Police Naik Balashaeb Wabhale said the amount of fine is very low in comparison to the one charged in the city for violating traffic norms.
2012 Fine sheet
Action taken against heavy vehicles on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway
>> For lane cutting, absence of reflectors, tele lamp, indicators: 18,911
>>u00a0For over speeding: 294
>>u00a0For dangerous driving: 557
>>u00a0Total fine collected: Rs 22,28,400u00a0
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