‘Underage driving must be curbed in Srinagar’

Srinagar, Nov 27: In the backdrop of the Tengpora accident that led to the death of two teenage students, stakeholders including traffic police and parents are demanding measures to prevent underage driving in the summer capital.

After the Tengpora accident, hundreds of vehicles, including two-wheelers, have been seized and fines have been imposed on traffic violators. The Traffic Police has seized more than 3000 vehicles in the last nine days in Srinagar alone.

A traffic police official said that “our vehicle holding yards are full to brim following massive drives in past few weeks,”

An official said that “the unfortunate incident brought stakeholders, including traders, parents, and schools, together like never before, which ignited a debate. They said that this has led to a good change that should continue.”

Following the accident, Srinagar traffic police created a dedicated WhatsApp helpline to report traffic violations, including driving by minors rash and negligent driving. Officials said that people have been flooding the whatsapp group of the helpline and sharing pictures and videos of traffic violations.

“At an average, 60-70 people connect to us on the helpline and share videos and pictures related to traffic violations. This mainly includes minors driving, carrying stunts, and rash driving. I think the recent deadly accident shook Srinagar to its core, and people have realized how important it is to contribute to safer roads,” said a traffic police official.

Meanwhile, social media is also full of videos, with Srinagarites sharing traffic violations and identifying the registration numbers of the traffic violators. Greater Kashmir talked to various commuters, parents and other stakeholders to know their views on the issue. Most of them expressed the importance of using social media and other tools so that lives can be saved from these traffic violators.

“In the recent Tengpora accident, we saw that two youngsters lost their lives. We saw the video several times, and there were many two-wheelers near the accident site which had narrow escapes that day. So, one traffic violation won’t only affect the life of those involved in an accident but will also be a matter of life and death for the pedestrian and two-wheeler riders who are going on with their routine day. So it is important to use social media and other means to monitor the traffic violations,” said Manzoor Ahmad, a commuter

SSP Traffic Police (Srinagar) Muzaffar Ahmad Shah said that the unfortunate incident of Tengpora ignited a debate among all the stakeholders. He said that they have gained immense support from parents, traders, Schools, and others.

“We have never seen this magnitude of support and public participation by the Srinagarites in curbing the traffic violations. From petrol pump owners and parents to traders, everyone is doing their bit. People are also using our helpline to reach out to us. It was not like this before, and parents are also starting to say no to underage driving, and we hope this will continue,” Shah said.

He said the support is making their job easy, and if this continues, there will be a significant drop in deadly accidents that are taking young lives.