Kerala MVD fines 900 vehicle owners for using high-beams: Challans worth Rs 3.49 lakh issued

Not too long ago, the Motor Vehicles Department of Kerala started ‘Operation Focus’ to curb the number of accidents and mishaps caused due to people driving their vehicles with the high beam of their vehicle headlamps on during night hours. Now, it looks like the operation is followed in full swing, as around 900 offenders have been caught under this operation. Until now, the MVD has collected fines worth Rs 3.49 lakh from the violators.

 

The ‘Operation Focus’ was started by the Motor Vehicles Department of Kerala and was followed in the state till April 12 during the night hours and early morning hours between 7 pm to 10 am. This 10-day scrutiny drive was followed for all kinds of vehicles, including all two-wheelers and commercial vehicles. The main purpose of this drive was to curb the mishaps and dangerous after-effects of driving vehicles with high beams during the night hours.

Most people were caught using non-specific coloured lights on the front and rear of their vehicles. A total of 244 people were found using such lights. Another 187 people were arrested and fined Rs 47,000 for using excessive lights on the vehicles. The MVD also issued challans to the drivers who did not use proper illumination on their vehicles. A total of 356 challans were issued to such people amounting to Rs 89,500.

Operation Focus also checks on other aspects

Apart from the offence of driving the vehicles with high beams, the ‘Operation Focus’ also involved imposing penalties for other offences such as driving without proper illumination around the license plates, using unauthorized colour lights, excessive use of unauthorized auxiliary lights and absence of parking lights.

During the existence of the ‘Operation Focus’, many defaulters were caught violating the traffic rules and driving with their high beams on unnecessarily. These offenders were asked to remove the unauthorized lights and confirm the removal by presenting the vehicle before the RTO. In the most serious of instances, the confiscation of registration certificates was the ultimate penalty decided

Such a practice blinds the motorists coming towards you from the opposite direction, which can result in instances such as road accidents, imbalance while riding a two-wheeler and panic situations. These after-effects have proven to be fatal in some cases, which have cost the lives of some people in the past. It is this negligence of people driving with high beams on, which has resulted in an unwarranted increase in road accidents in the duration of last five to six years.

During the announcement of this unique drive, Samson Matthew, Director, National Transportation Planning and Research Centre, said that effective enforcement of traffic rules and regulations has become a necessity for decreasing the number of road accidents in the years to come. The Contract Carriage Operators Association (CCOA) has also expressed concern by stating that the change in original wiring and battery connections to accommodate the auxiliary lights should be discouraged.

The post Kerala MVD fines 900 vehicle owners for using high-beams: Challans worth Rs 3.49 lakh issued first appeared on Cartoq.

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