And who will stop this screening?

ISLAMABAD: Multi-tasking appears to be the name of the game as public transport, including taxis, is now home to LCD screens — in their vehicles.

Liquid crystal display — or simply LCD — is a thin, flat electronic visual display. “It (LCDs in a car) is a mode of enjoyment.” Amjad Zafar, a private car owner, said. But this is increasingly becoming dangerous as drivers are distracted by videos being played on the diminutive screen. A task as complex as driving does not lend itself naturally to multitasking — a research carried out by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) found out that inattention was one of the major causes of road-accidents.

“LCD screens should not be fixed on car dashboards,” Muhammad Nauman, a car owner, said. “However, there is no harm in making the facility available to those sitting at the back,” he added. “There is no law dealing with LCD screens,” Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) spokesperson, Waseem Ahmad, said. But that has not stopped ITP from taking action.

“Just this month, we confiscated and destroyed 20 LCDs installed in public transport vehicles,” Ahmad said. “We have been acting against the public transport drivers under Section 48, which authorises the police to act against actions diverting drivers’ attention, which then may cause accidents,” he said.