CHENNAI: Acting strictly against traffic violators, the authorities here have suspended the driving licences of 15,764 people, or nearly 173 a day, till March this year for six offences identified by the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety (SCCRS).
Of these, more than half were for jumping red lights or using mobile phones while driving – 4,234 licences were suspended for jumping the signal while 4,179 were for using mobile phones while driving.
The SCCRS directed suspension of licences for overspeeding, overloading of goods, overloading of persons in goods carriages, drunk driving, red light jumping and using mobile phones while driving.
After jumping signals and using phones, the next highest number of suspensions was for overspeeding (3,614), followed by drunk driving (1352), carrying persons in goods carriage (1,316), and overloading goods carriage (1,069).
Once a traffic police officer generates an e-challan for one of the six offences identified by the SCCRS, a text message is sent to the registered mobile number of the offender informing him/her about the fine amount and licence suspension.
Apart from the SMS, police will send notices to the offender's registered postal addresses about the suspension. After receiving the notice, the offenders are supposed to submit their explanation in a month. If they prove that they were not at fault, their licences will be returned.
A senior Transport Department official said under Section 19 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the licence is suspended for six months for the first offence and cancelled for a repeat offence. "To curb the menace of drunk driving, stringent enforcement measures are being taken, including suspension of licence in the first instance and cancelling it in case of a repeated offence," said the official.
However, despite the crackdown, Tamil Nadu still records an average fatality of 48 per day up to March this year, with total deaths touching 4,345 in 16,762 accidents. Coimbatore continues to lead in fatalities in the State with 234 deaths, followed by Chengalpattu (219 deaths) and Madurai (200 deaths).