Parents could be locked up if minor kid is caught driving in Gurgaon

GURGAON: It might be exciting to take dad’s bike to tuition for that ‘dude waali feeling’, give your girlfriend a ride to school to impress her, or steal the car keys for that shopping trip with buddies. But doing all these if you’re not 18 yet, might land your parents in trouble. In an initiative against underage driving that the Gurgaon Traffic Police started yesterday, the owner of the vehicle, which, in most cases, are the parents, will be challaned for allowing underage kids to drive.Not only that, they might also be imprisoned for three months, or fined `1000, or both. This step has been taken under Section 180 of the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA).
Vinod Kaushik, deputy commissioner of police (Traffic), said, “It is not that we were not taking steps to curb underage driving earlier. But from this special campaign against underage driving, we are going to be very strict. As per the MVA, the owner of the vehicle will get three months’ jail.”
Vinod Kaushik, deputy commissioner of police (Traffic) adds, “In cases of underage driving, the owners of the vehicle are mostly the parents. Bachche apne parents ki gaadiyan le ke chale jaate hain school ya doston se milne. Aise case mein, unke parents ko saza hogi.” He added, “Initially, we will start with counselling and challaning. We will call the parents and counsel them to not give their below-18 children a bike or car to drive. Then, we will try to explain to the kids also that what they consider fun can actually cause a huge problem to their parents, to the extent that they can be jailed. Agar inke baad bhi cases increase hote rahe, toh we will take the harsher step – three months’ jail term.”
The drive against underage driving will happen outside every school in Gurgaon, especially around the students’ departure time. Kaushik said, “Har ek school ke aage chhutti ke time pe checking hogi. That’s the time when we see many underage students riding bikes.”