Minor driving cases on the rise, police jail parents

Hyderabad: Four parents were imprisoned for a day this month for allowing their minor children to drive. Several major accidents have been caused because minors have been driving so traffic police have now started asking the courts to award imprisonment to the parents of the young offenders and to send the youngsters themselves to juvenile homes if required.

The courts have thus decided to send the underage drivers to juvenile homes if they repeat the offence. Two recent accidents in the city have driven the police to become more strict. In one, a 12-year old pillion rider fell off and was crushed under a lorry after the 14-year-old driver of the vehicle tried to overtake a lorry earlier this month.

In the other case, two minors were killed and one injured when the bike they had taken for a joyride skidded off the road in Humayun Nagar.

DCP Traffic A. V. Ranganath said, “We have been charge-sheeting those less than 18 years of age and their parents along with the owner of the vehicle for Minor Driving. The courts have been awarding imprisonment to the parents in recent days. Minor driving has become rampant in the city.”

He said the minors will be sent to juvenile homes if they repeat the offence but parents will be imprisoned.

“We concentrating on the parents because it is their mistake for allowing their kids to drive. It’s high time we start blaming parents because minors have no right to kill others on the roads.”

Dr Rahul Agarwal, a senior physician and diabetologist, who has a 15-year-old daughter says juvenile driving is hazardous. “They have unpredictable reflexes and are unprepared for the rules of the traffic. These might cause injury to self and other commuters. Sometimes, peer pressure and theatrical influences make them to speed up beyond control and accidents ensue.”