Surveillance cameras at more locations soon
The Traffic Wing of the City Police will install surveillance cameras at more locations across the city in a bid to combat the menace of street racing.
A top official told City Express that the proposed locations include TTC Junction and in front of Cafe Coffee Day on the Kowdiar-Vellayambalam stretch, All Saints’ College Junction and in front of Wireless Colony on the airport road, Devaswom Board Junction and Peroorkada.
Shadow police teams would also be deployed to identify the illegal racers, he said.
Cameras Lack Night Vision
Night vision on majority of the surveillance cameras installed in the city is not effective enough to identify the racers, an official said on condition of anonymity. “The installation at Kowdiar, from where majority of the illegal racing cases has been reported, is poor on night vision,” he added.
No Licence Suspended
It seems the lack of coordination between the Police and the Motor Vehicles Department has turned out to be a boon to the ‘daredevils’ in the city. The MVD, crippled by acute staff-shortage, has been carrying out the enforcement activities with just two teams comprising three members each. Of this, one has been sent on Sabarimala duty.
Thiruvananthapuram RTO P T Sasidharan said that his office had not suspended or cancelled a single licence till the date. “The police have enforcement personnel to identify such offences. But they do not report such incidents to us, without which we cannot cancel the licences of the offenders,” he said. “The Department suspends around 20 licences every month for offences such as drunk-driving,” he added.
A top official of the Traffic Police who admitted the RTO’s charge said that they had decided to recommend such cases without fail for action. “Not just suspension, we will seek cancellation of licence and vehicle registration in such cases,” he said.
Meanwhile, the police are yet to trace the BMW car which, reportedly, was involved in the ill-fated car race on the Kowdiar-Vellayambalam stretch on Sunday night. Four people were injured after one of the cars rammed a tree.