Andhra Pradesh HC pulls up Police Dept. for not implementing traffic rules properly 

A traffic policeman catching up a family going on a two – wheeler without headgears on M.G. Road in Vijayawada on December 11, 2024.
| Photo Credit: G.N. Rao

The Andhra Pradesh High Court (HC) took a serious note of the laxity on the part of the Police Department in implementing the helmet rule for two – wheelers while hearing a PIL filed by advocate T. Yogesh, on Wednesday (December 11, 2024).

The court summoned the Inspector General of Police (Traffic) to give an explanation on December 18, to which date the petition has been posted. The State Transport Commissioner was included as a respondent.

The judges expressed unhappiness at the Police Department’s alleged failure in enforcing the traffic rules in general and said they were not prepared to let more people die in road accidents.

The judges said the police could not wash their hands off the violation of traffic rules by merely imposing fines, and questioned why the large number of vacancies of traffic police in the State were not filled in spite of the grave situation prevalent on the roads.

Police have to necessarily instil fear in the minds of the public that the law would catch up with them whenever they break the rules, which endangers their own lives, the judges added.

In his petition, Mr. Yogesh stated that the police department is not able to enforce road safety through electronic means as mandated in Rule 167A of Central Motor Vehicles (Seventeenth Amendment) Rules, 2021.

Besides, he insisted that the citizens are not being penalized for violating many rules under the Motor Vehicles Act and it is causing a huge number of deaths and injuries every year.