Jammu, Nov 20 (IANS): Ten people were injured in a road accident on Wednesday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.
Officials said that the people were injured when the vehicle, a car, they were travelling in went out of the driver’s control and rolled down the slope at Gainthal in the district.
“All the injured have been shifted to the government medical college hospital in Kathua town for treatment. The cause of the accident is being investigated,” the officials said.
The exact reason for the accident was being investigated.
The traffic department in Jammu and Kashmir has become proactive in checking rash driving and erring drivers and also has come down heavily on minors driving vehicles.
Recently, two students of a reputed school in Srinagar were killed when they drove their Thar Jeep into a parked truck.
Reports said that three groups of students were engaged in a car race when one of the vehicles rammed into the parked truck and two students in the vehicle were killed on the
spot. The accident was widely mourned and thousands of messages on social media criticised the traffic police for not doing their duties properly.
SSP Traffic Srinagar city, Muzaffar Ahmad Shah later told the media that the parents of these students had been summoned a few days before and warned against allowing their children to drive cars.
Traffic police have since impounded dozens of two-wheelers and cars for violation of traffic rules.
Regional Transport Officer (Kashmir) Shahnawaz Bukhari has directed the traffic department to invoke section 199A against parents whose children are seen driving on the road.
The section once invoked makes a three-year imprisonment for the parents of minors seen driving vehicles and a fine of Rs 25,000 imperative on such parents.
In addition, people of age caught driving vehicles without a licence invoked cancellation of the vehicle’s registration certificate.
Drivers with bona fide driving licences once caught for rash driving suffer the punishment of suspension of their driving licences.
The SSP has also appealed to the citizens to cooperate with the police for the safety of themselves and their families.