GHAZIABAD: Parents of 13 minors who were caught driving two-wheelers on the city’s roads were booked under provisions of the IPC and Motor Vehicles Act on Friday. The youngest of the underage drivers caught in Friday’s crackdown is 10 years old. This is the first time police here are taking action against parents of underage drivers as they hope to send a stern message. Driving without a licence below the legally permissible age compromises road safety for all. In 2020, Gurgaon saw protest rallies against underage driving after the death of finance executive Alok Gupta, whose bike was hit by an SUV that its juvenile driver had lost control of.Following that, police in the Haryana city had decided to take action against parents of underage drivers.The crackdown in Ghaziabad on Friday followed an accident on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) that left a 17-year-old schoolboy dead and his friend injured. The boys were riding a two-wheeler on the wrong lane of the expressway and were hit by a speeding truck while on their way home from their school on Thursday evening.ADCP (traffic) Ramanand Kushwaha said a drive against traffic offenders, including underage drivers, has been launched and will continue. “Legal action will be taken against parents and guardians for permitting the children to ride or drive two- and four-wheelers, thus endangering lives. On Thursday, we made an appeal to parents on various channels, including social media, to dissuade their minor children from driving or riding,” he said.Kushwaha added that the 13 underage riders, caught from Kavi Nagar, Kotwali, Tila Mor, Modinagar, Sahibabad and Nandgram areas on Friday, were aged between 10 and 16 years and did not wear helmets. “While some of these underage riders told cops that they were running errands for their family, a few others were caught on their way to school or coaching centres,” Kushwaha said.The FIRs have been filed against the parents of the 13 minors under Section 336 (the act of endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC and Section 199A of the Motor Vehicles Act, he said. “Under these sections, no arrests are to be made as of now. Police will submit a charge sheet in the court and then a hearing will take place,” Kushwaha added. Section 199A of the MV Act states that the guardian of a juvenile or the owner of the motor vehicle shall be deemed to be guilty of the contravention and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly in cases registered under it. If found guilty, they can face a fine of Rs 25,000, three years of jail or both, while registration of the vehicle can be cancelled for 12 months. The underage driver will also be barred from obtaining a driving licence till 25 years of age.According to senior cops, minors were involved in 30% of accidents reported in the city in recent months. They admitted thousands of minors ride two-wheelers-scooters and bikes-often without helmets on roads every day and get away with it because there are no stringent checks. The traffic department, police said, was planning to conduct meetings with different school administrations and ask them to prohibit entry of students who rode on two- or three-wheelers to school under the new drive.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ghaziabad/ghaziabad-cops-book-parents-of-13-underage-drivers/articleshow/97592631.cms