Two-wheeler menace: Keep offenders waiting for hours, says Transport Minister Diwakar Raote

To curb the ongoing biker menace, on Tuesday, Maharashtra Transport Minister Diwakar Raote suggested that at least in Mumbai, traffic police must continue nabbing two-wheeler riders who breach traffic rules and keep them waiting for a good few hours to teach them a lesson.

In the past three years, 12,931 people riding two-wheelers lost their life across Maharashtra.

"Unfortunately, 70 per cent of deaths due to road accidents involve two-wheelers. Even in Mumbai, we see two-wheeler riders riding dangerously. The traffic police should continue punishing two-wheeler riders who breach rules. Rather than levying fine, they should be made to wait in a corner for one to two hours, before letting them go. In this city, time is everything, and this is the only way they will learn to respect rules," said Diwakar Raote, state Transport Minister, at an event marking the end of the Road Safety Fortnight.

The minister condemned two-wheeler riders who do not wear helmets, but also said motorists in the city are comparatively more disciplined than those in the other parts of the state. There are 55 black spots in Mumbai where accidents occur the most.

"We have provided Rs 20 crore to the Mumbai Traffic Police for installing CCTVs to identify motorists who breach traffic rules," added Raote. As per the last five year's figures, 2545 people have died and 19,042 people have been injured in road accidents in the city.

The Shiv Sena minister also took a dig at CM Devendra Fadnavis over the Mumbai-Nagpur Communication Expressway. "On the existing highways, despite speed restriction of 80 kmph, the motorists ply at 100-120 kmph speed. If vehicles are allowed to run at 150 kmph on the proposed Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi corridor, accidents may become a more frequent occurrence. Most tyres are not equipped to run at such high speeds," added Raote.

The Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi corridor will have intelligent smart transport system equipped with WiFi, speed guns, CCTVs, etc. The sensors on the road will inform about the number of vehicles on the road, traffic density, and decide traffic lights at signals accordingly.