BENGALURU: The instances of people caught by the traffic police for driving while talking on the mobile phone has been proving a challenge over the last few months. The department registered 17,664 cases in December 2018, and the number increased to 30,735 in January, and 24,437 cases in February.
Experts, however, are perplexed with the number of cases, since they may be a fraction of the actual number of cases. “We register at least 80 cases every day and also send notices to offenders who were captured on camera. Still, people get away with it,” Prashanth Siddanagoudar, ACP Traffic East, said.
New products such as Bluetooth-enabled helmets, which allow the rider to listen to music and attend calls when it’s connected to a phone, are making it harder for cops. “Not just the drivers, even pedestrians get isolated and their attention is diverted when they wear headphones,” Ashish Verma, associate professor, transportation systems engineering, Indian Institute of Science, said.
“It is a dangerous practice, since it diverts your attention and may cause accidents,” said P Harishekaran, Additional Commissioner (Traffic), adding that since it’s not possible to book people for using such hands-free devices, a change in law should be considered.
“The Motor Vehicles Act regulates the use of devices while driving, but there have been no amendments to this. Hands-free gadgets are recent trend, and there is no provision to find out if a person is using them,” Beena Pillai, a lawyer at Nex Legal Services, said, asking for amendments to be made according to the latest developments in technology.