lane indiscipline

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After the carpooling initiative, Bangalore Traffic Police intends to roll out a lane discipline drive in three corridors - road to KIA and elevated expressways of Hosur Road and Tumkur Road - from mid-November. Before that, by the month-end, a massive drive against on-road use of cellphones will be taken up by traffic police.“Both these drives - one against cellphone use by drivers - andwill go hand in hand. These two are the biggest problems on Bangalore’s roads apart from potholes. We have decided to address them at a larger level, additional commissioner of police (traffic) M A Saleem told Mirror.The drive against on-road cellphone use will start from this month-end. During this period, the entire traffic police set-up will be on the roads and keep a strict vigil on drivers. A person caught for the first time will be fined Rs 200. On second offence, the fine amount will be Rs 600. Third-time offenders will have to pay a fine of Rs 600 and their driving licence will be kept under suspension for a minimum period of three months, Saleem added.“Prior to this drive, BTP will come out with hoardings and pamphlets educating people on how dangerous it is to drive while talking. Then, the campaign will begin and last for 10 days, he added. Even talking through bluetooth or speaker phone is not permissible under the law. These days, people not only talk, but resort to messaging as well while driving. This is putting the lives of others in danger. The time has come to treat the use of cellphone while driving as a bigger threat to the city's traffic,” he further explained.“Once the cellphone use drive ends, we will launch another drive to induce lane discipline. In the first stage, we will start disciplining people on KIA road, Tumkur and Hosur Road elevated roads. The left lane is meant only for goods and commercial vehicles. The right lane is for fast-moving vehicles such as cars. The mid lane will be meant for goods vehicles and buses,” Saleem said.“On the road to KIA, buses and cabs cause a lot of inconvenience to others. Buses cannot come onto the right lane. Similarly, cabs should be on the right lane without overtaking. The speed limit for fast moving cars on these roads is 80 kmph. Speed limit for buses is 50 kmph. For goods vehicles, it is 40 kmph. People should not exceed speed limits. People on the right lane should not overtake and cause haphazard situations on the road. We will deal sternly with lane discipline violators. Even their driving licenses will be kept under suspension if they are repeat offenders,” Saleem said. The fine amount for lane violation is Rs 100.Saleem added that BMTC buses are the biggest culprits on the city’s roads. So far, traffic police have46,718 cases against BMTC drivers this year. Out of these, around 26,000 cases are for parking in no-parking zones and disturbing vehicular movementBefore the drive is started, police will sketch an actual image of the vehicle on the lane in these three corridors.