Traffic commandos to tame Delhi’s speed demons
3 Jan 2015 12:23 AM GMT
“It may be easy to dodge one or two cops, but violators won’t be able to dodge an entire team closing in towards them,” said BS Bassi. These teams, which Bassi called Traffic Commando Units, will have both motorbikes and cars to chase hardcore traffic violators, intercept their vehicles or close in tactically turning the violators incapable of escaping the police’s net. These officials will be specially trained in strategies and tactics needed for chasing, said a senior police official.
According to Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Muktesh Chander, the plan for Traffic Commando Units has been chalked out. “We are planning to brief the concept to public by the beginning of next week and the plan is expected to be implemented in a few days after that,” said Chander. He further said, in the briefing we shall officially announce the number of such teams to start with, how they would operate, what they will be equipped with and other necessary details which people need to know.
Commissioner Bassi used as an example the incident that took place on Thursday evening in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar area, in which a sub-inspector was critically injured. The official tried to stop a cab (Maruti Esteem) which had taken a wrong U-turn. According to eye witnesses, the driver pressed the accelerator and hit the cop. He later abandoned the cab – which was impounded – and fled. The police are still looking for the driver. “Had there been something like the Traffic Commando unit, the errant driver couldn’t have fled,” said Bassi.
In a similar incident reported on the wee hours of December 14, two police officials were crushed to death and one was severely injured by an SUV cab – being driven by a man in inebriated condition – which rammed into police barricades at a picket near south-east Delhi’s Kalindi Kunj.
Meanwhile, records of Delhi Traffic Police revealed that there has been more than 325 percent increase in cases of over-speeding in 2014. As many was 123676 people were prosecuted for over-speeding this year, as compared to 29045 cases in 2013. More than 28000 people were prosecuted for drunken driving this year as compared to 26633 and 25678 in the years 2012 and 2013 respectively. Notably, 6653 people landed in jail this year for drunken driving as compared on only 3628 arrests in 2013, which shows an increase of 80 percent in jail term for the
said offence.
According to Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Muktesh Chander, the plan for Traffic Commando Units has been chalked out. “We are planning to brief the concept to public by the beginning of next week and the plan is expected to be implemented in a few days after that,” said Chander. He further said, in the briefing we shall officially announce the number of such teams to start with, how they would operate, what they will be equipped with and other necessary details which people need to know.
Commissioner Bassi used as an example the incident that took place on Thursday evening in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar area, in which a sub-inspector was critically injured. The official tried to stop a cab (Maruti Esteem) which had taken a wrong U-turn. According to eye witnesses, the driver pressed the accelerator and hit the cop. He later abandoned the cab – which was impounded – and fled. The police are still looking for the driver. “Had there been something like the Traffic Commando unit, the errant driver couldn’t have fled,” said Bassi.
In a similar incident reported on the wee hours of December 14, two police officials were crushed to death and one was severely injured by an SUV cab – being driven by a man in inebriated condition – which rammed into police barricades at a picket near south-east Delhi’s Kalindi Kunj.
Meanwhile, records of Delhi Traffic Police revealed that there has been more than 325 percent increase in cases of over-speeding in 2014. As many was 123676 people were prosecuted for over-speeding this year, as compared to 29045 cases in 2013. More than 28000 people were prosecuted for drunken driving this year as compared to 26633 and 25678 in the years 2012 and 2013 respectively. Notably, 6653 people landed in jail this year for drunken driving as compared on only 3628 arrests in 2013, which shows an increase of 80 percent in jail term for the
said offence.
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