Drive against speeding, drunk driving on national highway

Jaipur: The Rajasthan police have launched a major drive against speeding trucks and drunk driving on the Delhi-Jaipur-Ajmer national highway.

Till now, the checks were conducted only on that part of the national highway that comes under various city limits in the state.

The decision was taken after several fatal accidents were reported on the highways. The traffic unit of the Rajasthan police launched the special drive from September 1. The stretch of national highway from Shahjahanpur to Delhi, Kishangarh and Ajmer has been included in the drive. "We are focusing on five major areas - speeding, drunken driving, riding without helmets, overloading and lane discipline," said additional DGP (traffic) Rajeev Sharma.

Sharma informed that police stations that have jurisdictions over parts of national highways have been ordered to curb the menace of traffic mishaps. "We have put up many signboards on highways to alert drivers about speed limits. The awareness campaign and the drive are going hand in hand," he said.

Trucks that go beyond the speed limit of 40km/ph will be fined. Many interceptors vehicles and speed checking devices have been deployed on various stretches of highway.

As per the data provided by the state police traffic unit, as many as 769 challans have been issued for drunken driving in one month since the drive began, and 4,353 people were fined for speeding, a serious offence that's responsible for the majority of fatal accidents.

Sharma said that similar drives would be initiated on other highways. "We have zeroed in on five reasons that are causing accidents. We have combined preventive measures with widespread awareness campaign. These have resulted in a significant dip in fatal injuries on this particular stretch," Sharma said.

Police also managed to catch a total of 1,528 motorists for lane violation between September 1 till September 30. According to director general of Rajasthan police Ajit Singh, this would bring down the number of deaths.

ADGP Sharma added that several efforts were being made to ensure safety on national highways and people follow basic rules such as helmets, lane norms and speed limits.

Serial Number

Offence

Challans issued

1.

Speeding

4,353

2.

Helmets

2,989

3.

Lane violation

1,528

4.

Drunken driving

769