Traffic offenders may lose licence

The Karnataka government has proposed to suspend driving licence of repeated offenders of traffic rules and regulations. It will come out with a legislation during the next session of the legislature in this regard.

The decision was taken at a high level meeting of the police and transport departments here. The government has implemented the 'B-Track' project in Bangalore to streamline traffic movement.

It has also computerised the booking of traffic violations. The police have been given palmtops and Blackberry handsets to track the history of the traffic offenders.

"It has been found that some drivers violate traffic rules at least twice a week. It could be traffic signal jumping or using mobile phones while driving. To curb this, we intend to suspend the licence of such repeated offenders for some time," Karnataka's transport minister N Cheluvarayaswamy told reporters.

Persons, who lose their driving licences, will be eligible for a fresh licence once they complete the suspension period. "They will have to pass a rigorous test," he added.

According to him, there is a provision under the Indian Motor Vehicles Act to introduce a clause for suspending the driving licence of repeated traffic offenders.

"The modalities are being worked out. The draft legislation will be ready in two months," the minister added.