The Kerala High Court on Thursday said that no transport vehicles should paste advertisements or pictures that tend to distract drivers on the road. This will be applicable to the state owned buses of Kerala Road Transport Corporation (RTC).
A bench headed by Justice Anil K Narendran said that no additional revenue should be made through this mode which affects public safety, says Asianet News.
This will hit the Kerala RTC which is already in a financial crisis, as the revenue from advertisements will again decline.
The court made this statement while considering the plea of a Kerala RTC driver KM Saji against suspending his licence in a case where a motorbike driver died after he hit the back of the bus which Saji was driving.
High Court also stated that there are already restrictions for such advertisements on national highways. HC also made it clear that such advertisements cannot be permitted to be pasted in Kerala RTC buses also as they ply through national highways as well.
The court stated that no vehicles commuting through the state, including government cars, should cover their window panes. Even cloth curtains cannot be used inside vehicles henceforth, it said.
According to reports, HC told the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) that safety glass of the windscreen and rear window of vehicles should be maintained in such a way that there is at least 70% visual transmission. It also stated that no vehicles should use LED bar lights, LED flexible strip lights or halogen driving lamps in public places.
The Transport Commissioner has been directed by the HC to look into the matter.
It also directed that vehicles without parking lights should not be parked in an area which has no adequate lighting. Only vehicles on emergency duty will be allowed to fit blue, red and while lights on top of the vehicles, it stipulated.