Remember the scene in director Shankar’s Aparichitudu (Anniyan in Tamil) which gives us a glimpse of what life would be like if motorists maintained road discipline and followed traffic rules as they are supposed to? The Hyderabad Traffic Police's Penalty Point System (PPS) appears to have recreated the same to a large extent.
Rasoolpura 2wheeler wearing helmets and waiting Patiently before the stop line after introducing Point System in Traffic Rules. pic.twitter.com/Lc8Cmq9qnw
— hyderabadpolice (@hydcitypolice) August 18, 2017
After a government order introducing the PPS was issued, motorists have been careful not to violate traffic rules and have been stopping before the zebra crossing, giving way for the pedestrians to cross the roads safely and without hassle.
Under this system, licenses of motorists will be revoked for a year, if they exceed the cap of 12 traffic violations within two years. The PPS has currently been implemented in three zones of the city - Hyderabad, Rachakonda and Cyberabad.
Buoyed by the initial success of the system, which has reduced traffic violations that endanger other motorists or pedestrians, the traffic police has been posting photos of motorists following the traffic rules diligently on their official Twitter and Facebook pages.
Elated by the success, Dr V Ravinder Reddy, Joint Commissioner of Police told TNM that following the implementation of the PPS, there has been an increase in the number of motorists wearing helmets. He estimates that about 80 per cent now wear helmets and that many have started to diligently follow the rules.
“It is a welcome change. It is not just our efforts, even people have been supporting the cause of reducing the number of accidents. Our ultimate aim is to ensure that zero road accidents take place and make Hyderabad, a safe city for driving,” he said.
The records of the penalty points would be fed into the database of the Road Transport Authority (RTA).
Under the system, if a person's driving license has been suspended for a year once and s/he is caught committing violations in future, exceeding the tally of 12 penalty points in the stipulated period, their license will be suspended next for two years. If the offences continue to exceed the limits post this, the license will be suspended for three years.
Motorists also have a fair chance of bringing down their accumulated penalties by three points either by undergoing defensive training course or motor vehicle accident prevention course from an institution recognised by the Transport Department.