Law against use of mobiles while driving on cards
ISLAMABAD: The Law Ministry will soon approve a new law to prohibit the use of mobile phones while driving and promote use of seat belts, Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) Senior Superintendent (SSP) Sultan Azam Tamuri told Daily Times on Monday.
According to the new laws, vehicle manufacturers would be bound to fix seat belts in all vehicles, he said. “We must also stop the import of vehicles with tinted glasses as this is a crime here.” He said ‘high occupancy vehicles zones’ (HOVZ) would be introduced this year which would help smooth traffic on roads.
He said the traffic police should be consulted while constructing roads to reduce the risk of accidents. “The ITP should be consulted not only in road construction but also in town planning,” he said, adding that the ITP could better guide authorities concerned about the placement of parks and roads in new towns.
He said the ratio of accidents had decreased and 86 monitoring cameras had been installed to check speeding in the city, adding that half of the cameras are vehicle-mounted and the rest are useable by hand.
He said 55 assistant sub-inspectors will be inducted in the ITP and more patrolling squads would come in soon, as now only four squads were patrolling the city during the night.
He said a mass transit system to reduce the number of vehicles in Islamabad was being built. The ITP would soon launch an FM radio station to guide motorists about the condition of roads to avoid traffic jams, he added.
“Students educated under the ITP Kids Traffic Awareness Programme give warning cards to drivers if found violating traffic rules like speeding, signal breaking, wrong parking, and use of mobile phones. This is an informal way of raising traffic awareness,” said Taimuri.
He said the ITP had served notices to 20 driving schools because they lacked proper training facilities. He said motor vehicle examiners should be part of the ITP and private vehicles should be bound to get fitness certificates every year.
He said that since its establishment, the ITP had issued traffic tickets worth Rs 90 million to violators.
The ITP has 42 patrolling cars, 72 motorcycles, three jeeps, five pick-ups, four trucks and one mobile canteen and police resources would be increased, he said.
Source: Daily Times
Date:2/20/2007
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