Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Mangalore, May 14: In our country people get thrill in breaking laws with wanton disregard because they believe ‘rules are meant for breaking’.  We need policing to ensure a sense of discipline among people and this applies to every facet of life. This is true especially with regard to traffic related rules and regulations.  We find many two-wheeler drivers driving with helmets on their hands than on their heads or motorists trying to break the one-way traffic rule when no one is around and many such tactics.    Whether we agree or not, underage driving or driving without license has become rampant in Mangalore, which is no doubt a cause of concern for all. 

And much of the blame for this should be borne by the parents or the registration certificate owner  (RC) of the vehicles concerned in case something goes wrong says RTO-in-Charge of Mangalore Felix D Souza.  If public memory is not short the incident of an under-aged teenager (15 years) killing two workers in Panambur in August 2010 when he drove a Tata Scorpio without his parent’s knowledge is still fresh in our mind.  It is different matter altogether that the boy’s parents could cough up a sizeable sum and go for out of the court settlement.   

On April 1 this year in Bangalore two boys aged 16 and 13 were killed and another seriously injured (latest details not aware) when the scooter they were riding rammed into a BMTC bus near Ullala lake near Tavarekere.  The deceased was riding his mother’s vehicle with two pillion riders (his brother and classmate friend) and the speeding vehicle lost control and had rammed into the bus.   One can imagine the plight of the parents of the two boys - one dead and one in serious condition (at the time of accident).  Father of Suhas, who rode his mother’s vehicle was a superintendent in the Education department but could not control his son’s whim for driving a vehicle without license. 

Their argument was that their son was adamant and not listening to them. 

Felix D Souza says that RTO officials cannot be on the roads all the time trying to nab teenagers driving with impunity. “We can only request parents of teenage children not to give vehicle to their children who don’t have license and also ensure that they don’t get the key of the vehicle in their absence.  If anything goes wrong it will be the responsibility of the parents to bear the brunt of the consequence of their children’s wrong doings”, he cautioned. 
 
Felix says that most parents of teenagers these days have difficulty in making their children understand because they don’t listen to their parents.  On the other hand there are parents who give vehicles to their young children and feel and take pride often boasting that their young child is capable of driving.  Many mothers often ask their teenage children to give them a drop to their work place or to market.  Felix says many mothers have come to him with their under-aged children seeking license because boys find it easy to induce their mothers.  He also says that these days, children go to the extent of blackmailing their parents in order to get their speeding monsters. 
Unfortunately, unlike in western countries, in India we don’t have CC cameras to catch every action of every driver or monitor them every now and then. 

It is said that RTO has shortage of staff and cannot spare the limited staff to catch Road Romios.  Even traffic police face severe crunch of staff shortage and during the peak hours of morning or evening they are busy manning the traffic at important junctions. As a result most youngsters driving without license have gone scot-free and this peer pressure of the uncaught law breakers has  deleterious impact of their friends who often site their example and pester their parents to allow them to drive. 

Everyone is aware that riding a non-gear vehicle does not require special skills.   Any child who is able to ride a bicycle is capable of driving an auto gear scooter also without much difficulty.  But their immature mind often has a penchant for speeding up because speed is equated with thrill and that is their undoing most of the time.
PSI Gopalakrishna Bhat, of traffic says even checking has failed to have impact on these adrenaline-filled youngsters who find a way to circumvent whenever there is a check and escape.  “Checking also has negative impact as sometimes drivers are scared and in the process of trying to evade us end up causing multiple accidents even though we don’t do anything”.  

Gopalakrishna Bhat also explains that most parents are oblivious of the repercussions in the event of an accident involving their under-aged children.  “In the event of death of an accident involving under-aged (without license) the responsibility of providing compensation to the victim is on the R C owner.  The court decides on the amount depending on the victim’s qualification, job status, dependents and years of service left and many other aspects.   R C owner is liable to pay the amount to the victim as decided by the court”. It is said that there are instances of properties of people attached or RC owners paying every month a part of their salary to the victims”, Gopalakrishna Bhat pointed out. 

Then there is also the issue of self-accident (if the vehicle goes and hits some wall, tree or falls into the drain etc.,) where the vehicle owner does not get any insurance compensation even though he has a valid license or insurance, says Felix D Souza.  
Even though we come across parents are adamantine there are instances of many parents yielding to the blackmail tactics of their children.  If children are able to get away due to filial love school and college authorities have not evinced much interest in educating their teenage students in this aspect.  According to a survey conducted in urban and rural schools in Ludhiana last year apart from parents and police even school authorities have not taken any steps to curb the practice.  This is easier said than done because students always find ingenious ways to park their vehicle elsewhere and hoodwink the authorities.

Gopalakrishna Bhat says that traffic police and RTO officials would like to come to colleges and counsel students to this effect if the college authorities make such an arrangement as and when they require so that they can reach out to the imprudent and fill some sense in their pretty brains. 

The combined efforts of parents, police and  RTO officials would go a long way in facing this problem of under-age driving.