Continuing the drive against autorickshaws and vans ferrying schoolchildren in excess of their capacity for the third consecutive day, the Hyderabad Traffic Police has penalised 358 drivers.
In the last three days, the traffic police has booked over 1,000 cases against drivers cramming children into their vehicles. The police also penalised 12 persons who were found driving under the influence of alcohol and 71 for driving with licence.
Speaking to The Hindu, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Kumar said they can’t be indifferent to the question of safety of children and the special drive will continue.
He said most of the drivers were packing their autos and vans with children beyond the capacity thereby violating the norms.
“Autos can carry a maximum of five children and whoever violates the rule will be penalised,” he said.
On Saturday alone, the traffic police checked about 950 auto-rickshaws, 70 vans and five school buses in the city and booked 358 cases, in which 33 were found driving without driving licence. So far, the police has seized about 80 vehicles.
According to Mr. Kumar, cases were booked against 877 autos, 122 vans and two buses.
Further, he appealed to parents to avoid sending their children in a vehicle carrying more than the seating capacity and check the validity of documents of the vehicle and the driver.