Minor drivers make merry on city roads

HYDERABAD: Teenagers speeding away in cars and endangering the lives of people on the streets is not an uncommon sight in Hyderabad any more. According to traffic police officers, the number of minors driving on the city roads has reached alarming levels.Of the 14,000 cases registered for licence-less driving last year, at least 1,500 were minors, says a traffic officer.Last Sunday, 16-year-old Karan Agarwal rammed a car into a couple at Banjara Hills. The man suffered fractures in both his legs and his wife sustained multiple injuries. They are recuperating in Nims now. The couple have alleged that the local police were trying to protect the boy. "In Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills and Madhapur you can see kids in sleek vehicles 'tyreburning' the roads. A day is not far off when one of these kids will mow down people as happened in the BMW case in New Delhi," says a Punjagutta traffic police sub-inspector. In the BMW case, the accused Sanjeev Nanda's grandfather is a former chief of Indian Navy. "What can we do? Most of these teenagers who drive cars come from influential families. Someone is a minister's son while another's father is a rich businessman. We do not dare to touch them," said a traffic constable. According to DCP (traffic) K Sreenivas Reddy, to tackle the problem, the traffic police have decided to post constables outside all public schools and penalise 'driver-students'. "This should deter the boys from driving till they are eligible for a licence," he said.