Behind the wheel: Driving the point home

75 underage drivers fined Rs17,900 in one day under new operation.

FAISALABAD:

Traffic police booked 75 underage drivers in the last 24 hours and fined them a total of Rs17,900 in Faisalabad.

According to traffic officials, the operation is part of a new campaign to curtail underage driving in the district.

“We need to ensure that everyone behind the wheel has a licence. At present there are boys as young as 12 who are driving cars,” chief traffic officer (CTO) Sardar Muhammad Asif Khan said. “This campaign will also act as a warning to parents who hand over vehicles to underage children. The only way to teach them a lesson is to fine these boys or seize the cars,” he said.

According to a spokesman of Traffic Police, traffic wardens were told to keep a lookout for underage drivers on motorcycles, cars and other vehicles.

“Most of the accidents we witness involve an underage driver,” he added.

The CTO issued directives to impound all vehicles being driven by underage drivers in the district. The vehicles will not be released until the parents or legal guardians of the juveniles submit an undertaking that their children will not drive until they acquire a licence.

The CTO asked people to prohibit their underage children from underage driving. “This not only poses a risk for the children themselves but it puts the lives of others at risk,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2011.