- Rs 500 fine will be imposed for not wearing helmets; Rs 5000 for breaking red light signals
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) to charge heavy fines on traffic violators compatible to Punjab’s new traffic regulations, announced Furrukh Rashid, the senior superintendent of police (SSP).
In a statement, he said that the idea to increase the fine amount had been proposed to the quarters concerned, with the request to enhance the maximum penalty to Rs 5,000 to rein in the motorists who blatantly and deliberately break the law.
Earlier, the traffic police were imposing fines of Rs 100 to Rs 500 on bike riders. However, now Rs 500 fine will be imposed to those not wearing helmets and as much as Rs 5000 fine to be imposed to those breaking red light signals.
The total increase in fine is approximately 900 per cent, who would dare now to flout traffic rules, the senior police official said. The Ministry of Interior Affairs had asked for comments on the summary received from the federal capital police, seeking a comparison of fines in Punjab and Islamabad, he said.
In order to enforce rule of law on the roads, he said that there was dire need to revise the traffic penalties for the violators. The senior traffic official said that the increase in the traffic challans was the only feasible choice at this stage.
To a question, he said that the current level of fines did not bring changes in the behaviour of the violators despite massive campaigns to make motorists aware how important it was for them to respect rules that help protect lives.
“We have employed different methods ranging from awareness campaigns to seminars in order to sensitize people about traffic rules as a number of deaths are surging with each passing day,” he said.