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Traffic police will arrest parents if their under-aged children are found motoring on city roads;and the vehicle will be seized and parents taken before courtParents, take this seriously! If you have an under-18 teenager who has a flair for riding or driving, better keep your eyes open. Parents of minors riding or driving two-wheelers or cars will be arrested. With an eye on the safety of pedestrians and other motorists, the traffic police have already begun a drive against underage motoring in the city. At least 30 such cases against parents of under-aged motorists have already been filed in the past few days.A senior traffic official said, “We are planning to recommend to the regional transport offices (RTOs) to cancel licences of such parents. The worst part is when children take two-wheelers out during nights. They gather in groups and start racing or performing stunts. So it’s time to put an end to this menace. Recently, the High Court of Karnataka has asked the police to book parents for minors riding/driving. Under section 184, parents can be sent to jail for six months or fined up to Rs 1,000, or both.”Additional commissioner of police (Traffic) MA Saleem said, “Minors are not allowed to ride or drive any vehicle. We have started booking parents when we have found minors riding two-wheelers. An FIR will be registered against such parents who will be arrested and produced in court.”“Minors cannot be booked according to the law, so their parents who are abetting them to ride or drive will be booked. The police feel that without such stringency it would be difficult to discipline minors or create awareness about road safety and traffic law,” said a police inspector.“We have identified a few areas where children go for rides during nights.They start after 10 pm. They perform stunts and resort to racing. So we have started a drive to stop this menace,” Saleem said. “This trend is largely found on Nandidurg Road, Jayamahal Road, RT Nagar and Bellary Road. We have already booked around 30 cases. The FIRs have been registered against the parents under Indian Motor Vehicle Act section 184 and others.”Riding or driving while under the age of 18 is an offence. But often under-aged teenagers have been caught riding without helmets — a double offence.“In many cases, we have learnt of under-aged riders bringing their parents’ vehicles on the roads without informing them. So it is important for parents to keep a watch on their children’s activities,” a police officer said.The traffic police were not filing FIRs earlier. Parents used to get away by paying fines. However, as the traffic police observed that under-aged riding offences did not subside, they have resorted to a more stringent approach. “We are going to seize the vehicle when minors are caught riding/driving. We will call the owner of the vehicle (a parent, in most cases) and seize the driving licence and vehicle’s registration certification book until the case is over.”A police inspector said children get excited behind the wheels or while they ride and end up causing accidents. “There are many cases of non-fatal accidents. But since we cannot punish children we have to act tough on their parents. When we catch minors, they tell us many reasons like I was on the way to my friend’s house to borrow books or medicines; but we know they are lying so we summon their parents and warn them not to give vehicles to their children. But now, it is not going to be so lenient as earlier.”