VIJAYAWADA: Police, district administration, and officials of the transport department are implementing the Motor Vehicles Act strictly and carrying out enforcement drives regularly to curb road mishaps in the city.
According to officials, the exercise is proving to yield positive results. The second biggest city in Andhra Pradesh, Vijayawada, had reported 1,543 road accidents in the previous year.
City Commissioner of Police Kanthi Rana Tata told TNIE, “In line with the road safety committee’s recommendations, traffic police rectified all blackspots in the district. Due to this exercise, the rate of road accidents and fatalities has reduced to less than 1,000, recording a drop of around 30%.”
Expressing concern over traffic violations, an important aspect behind road accidents and fatalities, the CP explained, “In order to ensure that commuters follow traffic rules, we have started imposing fines according to the law if they violate rules. They are later presented before the courts so that they are awarded punishment accordingly.”
As per statistics, Vijayawada traffic police registered 9,945 cases of drunk driving vehicles under the Motor Vehicles Act from 2019 to November 30, 2023. Of the total, 9,100 were presented before the court and sentenced to jail terms ranging from one day to not more than 45 days or fine or both in some cases.
The court also imposed a collective fine of Rs 3.33 crore on them for driving after consuming alcohol.
“In 2023, 1,642 cases of drunk driving cases were registered and a fine of Rs 1.31 crore was imposed on violators. We are trying to create deterrence among violators by making them undergo jail terms. This is proving successful as the number of traffic violators are gradually dropping,” Rana pointed out.
Additionally, traffic police conducted enforcement drives across the city and 1,689 persons were booked for violating various rules.
Elaborating on the measures they are taking to prevent road accidents, he said, “Encroachments at busy and congested places were removed, blinkers and radium stickers were installed at problematic locations on highways.”