Recording of violations at 50 traffic junctions in Bengaluru soon

Leading motorbike mechanic Joseph Rajasingh delivers a talk. 

Beat Gurus band performs on the sidelines of World Motorcycle Day event.

(L-R) Biker Rajini Krishnan, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) B R Ravikanthe Gowda, rider Hemanth Mudappa and Central Crime Branch (CCB) Inspector Anil Kumar at the event. 

(L-R) Biker Rajini Krishnan, Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Ravikanthe Gowda, racer Hemanth Mudappa and Central Crime Branch (CCB) Police Inspector Anil Kumar take part in a panel discussion.

Women bikers from the city strike a pose.

Police will automate the recording of traffic violations at 50 junctions in Bengaluru, and nine types of visible violations will be recorded remotely, said Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) B R Ravikanthe Gowda.

He was speaking at a panel discussion at the World Motorcycle Day event organised by Deccan Herald and the Association of Biking Community (ABC) India on Sunday.

Addressing the issue of traffic discipline among riders, he said reducing the number of casualties in road accidents was a top priority for the traffic police.

According to Gowda, there are 1.93 crore registered vehicles in Bengaluru. “Two-wheelers are an essential part of Bengaluru life because they are convenient and compact. But discipline issues make them a safety hazard for everyone on the road,” he said.

Gowda also said that while spotting violations like the absence of helmets or signal-jumping was easy, enforcing lane discipline was challenging.

Statistics show that motorcyclists and pedestrians account for a whopping 90% of deaths on Bengaluru roads, and 50% of such deaths are of motorcyclists.

Research also points to a considerable number of these deaths being caused by other two-wheeler riders.

“Speeding is the major killer. When travelling at unsafe speeds, riders cannot react fast enough to unexpected obstacles.”

“The impact of crashes at such speeds is as bad as being tossed onto a concrete floor from a high-rise building,” said Anil Kumar, Inspector, Central Crime Branch, who was part of the panel.

“The lack of safety gear is a major issue. People find minor reasons to avoid wearing helmets and commit various other violations like riding on the footpath or zigzagging across lanes. Enforcement of rules is one thing, but discipline and respect for social order has to come from within. After all, it’s your own life at stake,” said Hemanth Muddappa, national drag-racing champion.

Gowda added that road safety should become a part of our cultural consciousness. “As a country, we are almost unaware of ideas like direction-oriented or speed-oriented lane discipline.”

“If rules are hardly followed, trying to enforce them ends up endangering the policeman and the occupants of the vehicles at the same time, especially in cases like speeding or zigzagging.”

“Education on safety rules must start early. We hope that recording and penalising violations remotely through smart enforcers will make the process more systematic as well,” he stated.