Bengaluru City Traffic Police have announced that they will start penalising owners of two-wheelers for not installing rear-view mirrors and not using indicators while changing lanes and taking deviations. The fine for each offence is ₹500.
Most of the accidents in the city involve two-wheelers. Police officials hope that the fine will serve as a deterrent to motorists.
“A study of the accidents involving two-wheelers and the casualties caused in the city has revealed three major causes — not using rear-view mirror, indicator, and not wearing helmet,” said B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda, Joint Commissioner, Traffic, Bengaluru, in a statement on Friday.
While the traffic police strictly enforce the helmet rule, they haven’t enforced the use of a rear-view mirror and indicators.
“We need to bring about a behavioural change among two-wheeler riders in the city. Looking at rear-view mirrors can avoid a lot of accidents. People, especially two-wheeler riders, are not used to correctly using indicators while taking deviations and changing lanes. An analysis of several accidents shows that a sudden deviation takes the motorist behind by surprise and gives no time to react, causing accidents,” said Mr. Gowda.
Enforcing rear-view mirrors and the proper use of indicators are key to avoiding accidents on the city’s roads.
“On busy arterial roads, motorists follow lane discipline and we have signals to regulate the traffic. Most accidents are reported on the smaller roads, especially in the mornings when traffic is less and signals are yet to kick in. In these scenarios, both rear-view mirrors and indicators play a key role,” he explained.