Lifetime ban for wrong-side drivers in Gujarat

India’s road safety record isn’t what you would call a good one. Every year, thousands of people die on Indian roads due to accidents caused by drivers and riders completely ignoring road rules. However, now authorities are cracking down on drivers and riders who are disobeying road laws and the latest initiative by the Ahmedabad police which could see offenders being banned from the roads.

The new initiative by the Ahmedabad Police will see the RTO blacklist drivers and riders who are caught driving on the wrong side of the road in the city. The blacklisting will be done when the offender is caught for the second time. The first time an offender is caught driving on the wrong side of the road an FIR will be lodged and the vehicle’s papers will be put up at the Regional Transport Office. The offender’s license will also be cancelled when he or she is caught driving on the wrong side of the road.

Speaking to the Times of India, Sanjay Kharat, the District Commissioner of Police Traffic (West), said, “Earlier, driving licences could be cancelled if the offender was caught breaking rules for five times. But with the amended traffic laws, traffic police can recommend RTO to cancel the licence if the rule violator is caught in two offences .”

Previously, the RTO used to blacklist people who broke the law after five offences. However, the new rules will give the Traffic Police more power and will hopefully cause drivers and riders in the city of Ahmedabad to drive as per the rules of the law. The Ahmedabad Police have already started cracking down on offenders. DCP Sanjay Kharat told the Times of India that the Ahmedabad RTO cancelled seven driving licenses on Tuesday alone and that the city’s traffic police force is set to intensify the drive against drivers and riders in the coming days.

The new drive by the Ahmedabad Police is a welcome move to help curb bad driving in the city. The new stricter laws should hopefully get people to drive properly on the streets of the largest city in the state of Gujarat.

While this new stricter law will get people to drive properly, however, the rest of the country doesn’t seem to have caught up with the city of Ahmedabad. Hopefully, if lawmakers across the country start putting the same stricter laws for the rest of the nation. If the police push for stricter enforcement of the laws, then the fear of losing their licenses could hopefully get drivers and riders with a whole lot more sense, which in turn should make our roads a whole lot safer and reduce the number of fatalities and injuries suffered by people on the nation’s streets.