City police makes traffic offenders watch film on road safety as penalty

Jamshedpur, July 17: The traffic police has come up with a new strategy to inflict a new kind of penalty on offenders. They are making the offenders watch a movie on road safety for two hours.

After a series of campaigns to enforce discipline amongst traffic offenders, especially helmetless bikers through fines and awareness session, the traffic police have decided to compel offenders to watch a series of short movies on traffic safety awareness for two-hours besides imposing fines for violating road rules.

On Monday, a few bikers caught riding without helmets were shown a short film, complete with bloody details, on how helmetless travel can result in grievous injury or even death.

Traffic DSP Vivekanand Thakur said, �Alhough we are collecting fine at major roads but many people have made it a habit to pay fine and repeat the same offence. Not wearing helmet has become their habit it seems. Traffic police has joined hands with Tata Steel subsidiary Jusco�s safety wing to collect around five short movies. There is also a clipping of city police informing about traffic rules and fines for each offence.

In first such initiative on the Sakchi-Bistupur Main Road near Sakchi police station the bikers caught without helmet were shown the movie at the conference room of the Sakchi police station. Only after each of the traffic violators had seen the movie they were allowed to leave the room and then pay the fine Rs 300 to the traffic cops before taking their bikes.

The city traffic police had in the last fiscal 2016-2017 (till March 31, 2017) collected fines of Rs 1.25 crore from traffic violators.

�On Monday, around 100 riders were caught without helmet. We had given strict directions that unless the violators had seen the movie nobody would issue prosecution slips. After Sakchi, we plan to do it in other traffic police stations in the city in association with Jusco,� said traffic DSP.

The documentary, police official said, had the desired impact, with one biker saying it was scary and others speaking of how the pain-choked voice of a road accident victim had shattered them.

The film talks about why one should avoid using a mobile phone while crossing a road, the need for car drivers and passengers to wear seat belt, the importance of not driving while drunk, why one should wear a helmet and respecting road rules.

Thakur said the department has pamphlets on traffic awareness designed to educate people against the danger of not wearing helmets apart from increased penalty as per directive of the government. Due to manpower crisis we cannot continue awareness alongside checking drive and the idea is to take help of NGOs to educate people.