‘Violators of traffic rules to be handed heavy fines’

The Sindh government has decided to impose heavy fines on violators of traffic rules in Karachi and approved proposals made by the traffic police chief with the objective of checking frequent violations and punishing recalcitrant motorists.

The new fines would range from a minimum of Rs1,000 to a maximum of Rs10,000, according to official sources privy to the decision that follows deliberations at a meeting held at the Chief Minister House a few days ago.

Chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, the meeting was attended by secretaries of various government departments and attended by Deputy Inspector General of Police Amir Ahmed Shaikh of the Karachi Traffic Police.

The chief minister had shown concern over the traffic issues, including frequent violations of rules by motorists, said the sources.

DIG Traffic Shaikh briefed the meeting on the problems faced by his force, including a shortage of manpower, and suggested increasing the amounts of fines for violators, saying that they be jacked up from a few hundred rupees to thousands of rupees. 

The chief minister was said to have directed the DIG to submit proposals at his office. The proposals are at the CM House now and a notification in this regard is expected to be issued today or tomorrow.

Talking to The News on Monday, DIG Shaikh confirmed he had forwarded his recommendations for imposing heavy fines to check violations of traffic rules and fatal accidents that usually occurred due to such violations. He said he had suggested handing motorcyclists a heavy fine of Rs5,000 to Rs10,000 for one-wheeling.

A letter containing the proposals titled “Revision of Traffic Violation Penalties” says: “It is submitted that traffic violations directly or indirectly affect the human lives and their properties. The existing fines for the violations are meager having no deterrent effect upon the violators.

“Consequently, the violators are flagrantly disobeying traffic laws on the city roads with no fear of existing penalties. It is, therefore, requested to kindly move the subject reference to the Government of Sindh for the revision of existing traffic fines of violations in particular, which will go a long way in reducing road facilities and traffic violations as well.”

The DIG said it had been suggested that the fine for motorists jumping the red light (manual/electric) be increased from Rs400 to Rs1,000, those driving on the wrong way in on one-way street or road be handed a fine of Rs1,000 instead of the existing challan of Rs150, motorcyclists riding without the safety helmet be fined Rs1,000 instead of the existing fine of Rs150, the challan for pillion-riding without the safety helmet be increased from Rs150 to Rs500.

After the implementation of the decision, public transport vehicles carrying passengers on the rooftop or perched on the sides will have to pay Rs2,000 instead of Rs1,000, juvenile drivers will be fined Rs1,000 instead of Rs500, and the fine for motorists riding without fastening the seatbelt will be increased from Rs500 to Rs2,000.

Another heavy fine of Rs3,000 has been proposed for vehicles with tinted or covered glasses. Currently, the fine is Rs500. Another heavy fine of Rs3,000 has been recommended for vehicles in poor condition plying on roads, Rs2000 was proposed for plying vehicle where prohibited and Rs3,000 for driving an unregistered vehicle.

DIG Shaikh stated that at present there was no separate code to check the use of fancy or irregular number plates and one-wheeling, and both violations were being dealt with under Code 46 (Misc. or other violations) of the Traffic Violation Ticket System. 

“The fine under this code is meager having no deterrent effect upon violators. Therefore, it is also requested that separate codes for the following two violations may kindly be inserted in Code 52 of the Traffic Violation Ticket System in order to combat these violations.”

The DIG said the fine proposed for fancy number plates was Rs3,000 and for one-wheeling it was at least Rs5,000. He said he had also written a letter requesting a change in Section 99-A of the Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1965 (Sindh Amendment) for one-wheeling. 

“In order to discourage one-wheel riding, which is not only dangerous for the rider himself but also risky for other road users, there is an urgent need for an amendment in Section 99 of the MV Ordinance as already made by the Punjab government.”

The suggested section states: “One-wheeling of motorcycle, (1) Whoever drives or ride a motorcycle in any public place, while standing or lying thereon or on one wheel, which endangers or is likely to endanger human life or property, shall be liable to be punished with a fine of Rs5,000. It is therefore, requested that the Secretary Transport Department, government of Sindh, may kindly be moved for addition of proposed Section-99A in the MV Ordinance 1965 (Sindh Amendment).”

DIG Shaikh said both the proposals had been moved to the government and it was expected that in the coming days a notification in this regard would be issued.