NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu saw the highest number of road accidents caused by underage drivers in the country last year. According to the data placed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, a total of 11,890 road accidents involving underage drivers were reported across states and union territories (UTs) in 2023-24.
And most of them (2,063) took place in Tamil Nadu. Madhya Pradesh saw the second highest number of road accidents involving minors (1,138), and Maharashtra the third highest with 1,067 cases.
It was followed by UP, which saw 935 road mishaps involving vehicles driven by minors, and Andhra Pradesh saw 766 such cases. The data was placed as part of the reply of Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on challans issued to underage traffic rules violators.
In response to a question by Congress MP Neeraj Dangi seeking details of the steps taken by the government against minors driving vehicles, Gadkari informed the House that an e-challan system had been developed for the monitoring and enforcement of challans.
In his response, the minister stated that as many as 1,316 challans had been issued for allowing minors to drive in Bihar in 2023-24, through which the authorities collected a revenue of Rs 44.27 lakh.
Likewise, 71 vehicle owners or those in charge of a vehicle were issued challans in Chhattisgarh for letting someone without a licence drive. A revenue of Rs 1.3 lakh was collected through the exercise. The minister’s reply also noted that a total of 65 individuals had been challaned in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) for similar offences and 22 persons were penalised in Delhi and Uttarakhand separately.
The revenue earned by the J&K administration through challans amounted to Rs 1.36 lakh. Besides, Delhi and Uttarakhand collected Rs 44,000 and Rs 1.05 lakh through the exercise, respectively.