Cuttack: The revised Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 has come into effect in Odisha since March 1. Extensive checks are being carried and fines collected by officials of the regional transport offices (RTO) in association with police.
According to the state transport authority (STA), so far 23,018 challans have been issued to violators of traffic rules in Odisha from March 1 to 10. Of these, 10,000 have been issued by the RTO.
Among them 1,340 challans have been issued for over-speeding, 187 for using mobile phones while driving, 148 for driving on the wrong side of the road, 125 for drunk driving, 552 for not wearing seat belts, 247 for triple riding and 4,511 for not wearing helmets. There have been 10 penalisations for minors driving two-wheelers.
Ganjam RTO has issued the highest number challans (1,314) followed by Sambalpur (1068), Balasore (870), Bhubaneswar 1, 2 (773) and Koraput (465).
On the other hand, Police shells out 12,225 challans. Of these, 421 for speed, 128 for using mobile phones, six for driving in the opposite direction, 1,509 for driving without seat belts, 371 for triple riding and 5,355 for driving without a helmet.
PNN