Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government Thursday directed police and Transport Department to suspend the driving licence for those driving two-wheelers without a licence. The secretary of the Transport Department, Madhusudan Padhi has sent letters in this regard to DGP Abhay and Transport Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda.
In the letters Padhi has requested the two officers to submit a district-wise report on suspension of driving licences for violation of the helmet rule in 2019 and January-October, 2020 within the next seven days. This is because the Supreme Court wants a detailed report on the same.
The letter reads, “During 2019 in Odisha, two-wheelers were involved in 4,688 road accidents out of total 11,064 road accidents. In these accidents 2,398 persons have died. Among those killed, 2,156 victims were not wearing helmets at the time of the accident. Wearing a helmet could have saved many lives.”
The letter added: “As per the information received, during 2019, about 8.5 lakh persons have been detected by Police and Odisha Motor Vehicles Department (OMVD) officers violating the ‘Helmet Law’. As per Section 194D of the MV Act, whoever drives a motorcycle or causes or allows a motorcycle to be driven in contravention of the provisions of section 129 or the rules of regulation made thereunder shall be punishable with a fine of one thousand rupees and he shall be disqualified for holding license for a period of three months.
PNN