Several studies conducted to find out reasons behind increasing number of accidents in the state have revealed that over speeding by drivers of passenger vehicles has taken many an innocent lives on road. But indifference of the government and police administration can be gauged from the fact the traffic police has not been provided with even a single speed gun that can check the menace of over speeding.
Mini buses and even long route buses can often be seen over speeding to keep each other off, endangering lives of commuters in the bargain, but there is hardly any means to monitor their speed objectively in the absence of Speed guns which are being used widely in other parts of the country to check violation of traffic norms.
Reports suggested that more people were killed in road accidents in the state as compared to militancy related incidents. Over a thousand people lost their lives in 2011 in 6,136 road mishaps many of which were caused due to over speeding and inept driving.
Traffic police department had reportedly submitted a proposal to the government for procuring advance equipment being used for traffic regulation and management including purchase of speed guns, but proposal was biting dust in the ministry of transport, sources disclose. "We are using traditional methods which are less effective, but we have little option in the absence of modern equipment such as speed guns " SSP Traffic Manmohan Singh said.
"We had submitted proposal to government a year ago for three vehicles fully equipped with modern gadgets to curb over speeding. These vehicles are loaded with speed tracker (speed guns) to curb over speeding on national highways as well as congested city roads, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hemant Kumar Lohia told while speaking to Kashmir Images. "We are hope to receive them before the end of this financial year. The vehicles would be fully equipped with all modern gadgets including cameras, wireless, breach reactors and computerized challaning system for on spot penalty to violators of traffic, he added.
"We have also decided to enhance the on-the-spot penalty against the traffic violators for even minor offences and department would not spare the habitual offenders and initiate strict action against them. If a person continues to violate traffic rules, his or her driving licence will be cancelled permanently," Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hemant Kumar Lohia divulged further.
"There were about 500 habitual violators from Srinagar region and over 400 from Jammu region and the lists have been forwarded to Regional transport offices (RTO) for cancellation of their licenses" he added.
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