Speeding notice to ambulance owner identifying it as scooter

MYSURU: The city traffic police need to upgrade their technologies to be accurate while dealing with vehicles violating traffic rules. Recently, city cops issued a speeding notice to the owner of an ambulance identifying the vehicle as a scooter. The sticker displaying in front of the vehicle identifying it as an ambulance was not visible.
Police issued notice against the ambulance belonging to Azeez Sait Charitable Trust, which is maintained by MLA Tanveer Sait, referring to a photo taken by 'Red Speed Camera' - a black and white camera - installed at Kalasawadi, near ColumbiaAsia Hospital.
Cops claim the vehicle was speeding and as per rules, ambulances can speed only during emergencies. "As the photo was taken by a black and white camera and the 'Ambulance' sticker was not visible clearly, we could not recognize the vehicle and issued the notice," police said.
To maintain free flow of traffic and detect traffic violations, city police click photos and use Red Speed Cameras installed in several places. These photos are then forwarded to the automation centres for further action. Unless cops are clear about the nature of traffic violation and the vehicle registration number, they don't serve notice. "In this case, the vehicle violated the traffic rule and the registration number is clear, but sticker identifying it as an ambulance was not visible," said a police officer at the automation centre.
Sometimes the registration number and the type of vehicle mentioned in the notice differ only because police use codes to mention the type of vehicle in application, which could lead to the mismatch. The error happens while uploading details of the vehicles using these codes, police sources added.
The automation centre receives more than 2,500 complaints everyday. City traffic police click thousands of photos of traffic violations everyday, but issue notice only for a few. "We serve notice to violators only if the nature of violation and registration number of vehicle are clear," the police officer said.
He said that constables who take photos must fill details of the nature of violation, the type of vehicle, registration number of the vehicle and area where the incident happened. Adding to this, fake number plates make the situation worse for traffic police. "There have been cases when we come to know that a vehicle had a fake number plate only after the real owner appeared with his vehicle at the station," said an officer from Siddharthanagar Traffic Police.