Get tough on speed demons: CM tells cops

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has directed the police to take necessary action to check speed menace in the city. The initiative has been taken after Wednesday’s incident in which an officer of the Indian Air force was killed after being hit by an Audi.

According to the traffic department of the city police, in the past few year number of high speed bikes and cars went up sharply in the city. With the increase in such vehicles, number of accidents at night has also gone up. The reason is people start driving without proper training. 

“Motorbikes of different makes like Harley Davidson, Triumph, Suzuki and Ducati which are driven by engines of more than 1200 cc are now available in the city. Driving expensive SUVs of Mercedes, Toyota, Chevrolet and Mahindra is also a fashion. Anyone can buy cars or bike of their own choice. Police have nothing to interfere in this regard. But owners of such vehicles should have proper training to handle them so that common people are not affected,” said a senior officer of the traffic department adding that the reality is quite different. Some youth from affluent families have formed groups and they prefer driving hi-speed bikes and cars at night on deserted roads. They even race among themselves. Such race takes places on deserted roads mainly in Rajarhat, EM Bypass, AJC Bose Road Flyover, Vidyasagar Setu and its connecting ramps.  

The police had first spotted such betting operators in the city and its outskirts around three years ago. 

Strict action by the police and special raids at nights at different parts of the city had brought down road accidents. 

But according to the officers of traffic department, the menace of riding bikes and driving cars at a high speed has again gone up with the increase in number of such vehicles.

The officer said: “Today’s incident has once again revealed that how “speed fever” can take life of an innocent person.” 

More importantly, the drivers do not have proper training on the mechanism of the expensive cars controlled by sensors. As a result they fail to control the vehicle at a time of any emergency and it leads to accidents, he said. 

The on duty policemen often spot expensive vehicles sped away and places where such incidents are rampant have also been identified. But police cannot stop a vehicle when it is approaching at its top speed. 

Thus surveillance cameras have been installed at such places using which registration numbers of their cars or bikes are noted down and police later slap fine for violating traffic norms. But it hardly matters to them. They repeat violating the norms after paying fines.