This story is from July 22, 2014

Underaged motorists: Not a 'minor' threat anymore

A year ago, a YouTube video of a 9-year-old driving a Ferrari F430 in Thrissur created a furore in the state and became fodder for the national dailies.
Underaged motorists: Not a 'minor' threat anymore
KOCHI: A year ago, a YouTube video of a 9-year-old driving a Ferrari F430 in Thrissur created a furore in the state and became fodder for the national dailies. If you go by the rising incidents of underaged drivers caught on city roads, the 'trend' may have caught on and already reached proportions of a social menace.
More recently, a well-educated parent let his 13-year-old daughter drive a scooter in utter disregard for law.
The minor was caught for rash and negligent driving at Binanipuram by the Ernakulam RTO. In the last three months, the RTO has caught 161 underaged motorists in the city on charges ranging from speeding, rash driving and wrongful overtaking to overloading.
Since there is no provision in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, to book minors, the RTO registers cases against owners of seized vehicles. "As per our calculations, underaged motorists are involved in at least 20% of the total traffic violations," said Ernakulam RTO B J Antony.
This has alarmed RTO authorities who have started a drive near educational institutions, pocket roads and hangouts popular with the youth.
Authorities are booking the vehicle owners under sections 180 (allowing unauthorized persons to drive vehicles) and 181 (driving vehicles violating sections related to driving licence and age limit). "We impose Rs 1,500 as fine on the vehicle owner after seizing the vehicle," said assistant motor vehicles inspector B Emmanuel.
The RTO has also started awareness programmes for both children and parents. "A half day class is being held on every fourth Saturday of a month at the deputy transport commissioner's (DTC) office, Kakkanad. For children, we are organizing classes in educational institutions. Educational institutions have also been directed to check the mode of transport used by children to travel to schools," Antony said.
I K Ranjith, a teacher at Government Boys VHSS, Tripunithura, blamed parents for underage driving. "It is the parents or close relatives who encourage minors to drive vehicles for small errands. Children too force parents to buy them motorcycles," he said.
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