59,000 traffic rule violations by 4,000 Bluelines

NEW DELHI: While the capital's Blueline buses, that have gained notoriety for frequently being involved in road accidents, number just around 4,000, there have been 59,000 cases in which the vehicles have been prosecuted for violating traffic rules.
    
These figures show that majority of the privately-owned public transport buses have been booked several times for traffic violations.
    
"This year so far there have been 11 lakh prosecutions for traffic violations on Delhi roads, of which around 59,000 involve Blueline buses," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Qamar Ahmed.
    
Lane violation, drunken driving and wrong overtaking are some of the problems with the Bluelines buses, he said.     

There have been frequent checks by traffic police of speed-governors installed in the buses to curb reckless driving.
    
However, Ahmed said the control device is not tamper-proof and the Transport Department should look into it.     

This year so far, 64 people have been killed in accidents involving Blueline buses. Last year, the total figure was 100. However, as road accidents in the capital have caught the
spotlight, the number of traffic mishaps have gone down this year compared to the previous year.
    
The city has witnessed 1,100 fatal accidents from January one to July 15, 11 short of the figure in the corresponding period last year. "The first fortnight of July has also
recorded a decline, at 70 against 88 last year in the same period," Ahmed said.

The senior police official said the Department has earned a revenue of Rs 38 crore this year so far from prosecuting 11 lakh vehicles for various violations. This includes 59,000 Blueline buses, 3,000 DTC buses, 1.14 lakh trucks, 3.99 lakh LGVs, 10,000 RTVs, 3.30 lakh cars and jeeps and 3.15 lakh two-wheelers.
    
Many of the vehicles have been caught repeating violations, Ahmed said.
    
As many as 111 cases of unauthorised use of beacon on vehicle tops have also been reported, which is four times last year's figure.
    
Ahmed complained that Delhi lacked road culture. "A rider or a driver should have a composite civic sense and respect others on the road, but this is missing in most of the
drivers," he said.
    
In order to inculcate "good road culture" among future drivers, the traffic police plans to reach out to school students from Class VI onwards.