THRISSUR: The road accident at Nangiyarkulangara near Haripad on Thursday, in which a speeding Volvo bus killed five persons travelling in a car, points to the laxity on the part of motor vehicles department.
Law has empowered the department officials to suspend/cancel the fitness certificate of any heavy vehicle that enters Kerala for not having an operational speed governor in place. “The department hasn’t insisted on officials yet to check this. There is a belief that vehicles registered in other states don’t need a speed governor, which is incorrect. Though the other states haven’t made speed governor compulsory for heavy vehicles, these vehicles are bound to obey the rules in Kerala if they hit Kerala roads,” said a senior transport officer from the Transport Commissionerate.
Sources in Ernakulam, Palakkad and Alapuzha RTO said officials could definitely take action against heavy vehicles for speeding. “If a heavy vehicle violates the speed regulation, it means the vehicle doesn’t have a functioning speed-governor installed in it. As per the Kerala MVD rules, which is applicable to all vehicles entering the state, the department can suspend/cancel the fitness certificate of the vehicle citing defective speed governor, speeding and dangerous speeding. This rule is applicable to vehicles registered in other states too. Once the fitness certificate is cancelled, the vehicle cannot continue the service,” an officer with MVD enforcement wing said. If the heavy vehicle is registered in another state, the Kerala transport commissioner can also recommend his counterpart in the respective state to suspend or cancel the fitness or registration certificate for dangerous driving, the officers pointed out.
Strangely, the Kerala transport commissionerate hasn’t sent even a single recommendation till date to other states to cancel/suspend the said certificates for dangerous driving. This is at a time when interstate private buses, like the one involved in Thursday’s accident, pay thousands of rupees as fine for violating speed norms every day, a senior officer in Ernakulam said.
Staff shortage and technological disability, however, are hindering the department in penalising these vehicles for dangerous driving. “The cameras installed on the highways can detect only speeding and not dangerous driving. Dangerous driving can be detected only through physical verification now. Also, we can take action against the driver if he/she violates the same rule thrice. The present technology helps us in only identifying the vehicle, not its driver,” the officer with the enforcement wing said.
Source: Times of India