Drunk school van driver among 1,076 booked in 3 hours

Nagpur: Traffic police nabbed a drunk school van driver on Friday morning during a citywide campaign to check safety of children travelling to school on buses, vans and autorickshaws. Some 1,076 vehicle drivers were found violating traffic rules in the drive, described as successful by cops, against illegal school transportation.
The drive was conducted across all the 10 traffic zones in city. The drive lasting around three hours was led by DCP (traffic) Chinmay Pandit along with all senior officials of the department.
Speaking to TOI, DCP Pandit said, “Under the guidance of commissioner of police Bhushan Kumar Upadhyay, we are working on making the city accident-free. For this, we are, and will be, taking several traffic drives. The drive against illegal school transportation on Friday was a success as we took action on record number of violators within three hours.”
“I request parents and school authorities to verify documents and credentials of drivers they hire for transporting their kids to school. They must also ensure that the vehicles are not over crowded, for the safety of their children. Sometimes, it is seen that some parents, for the sake of lower charges, send their children to vehicles without verification but the life of a child is precious than any money. So, I urge parents and school authorities to regularly verify drivers,” added the DCP.
Beginning at 7am on Friday morning, which is the peak period of school transportation, several traffic cops were stationed at different squares in the city. They started detaining school vehicles and checked documents, fitness certificates of vehicles, and adherence to traffic rules.
Cops also checked for overcrowding in these vehicles, which is a major hazard for children. In all, cops took action on 387 school buses, 329 vans and 360 autos.
The biggest cases was on where one Rajesh Gomkale, driver of a school van, was caught driving while drunk while transporting seven children to a school in Jaripatka area. Cops have booked Rajesh for drunk driving and seized his vehicle.