Under-16 riders flouting traffic rules strike fear in road users

PUNE: Legally speaking, under the Motor Vehicle Act, no person under the age of 16 can ride a two-wheeler and those who have attained the age can only ride a motorcycle with an engine capacity of 50cc.

The catch here is there are no two-wheelers under 50cc being manufactured now. However, many teens who have just turned 16 and many who are even younger, freely ride twowheelers without a licence or proper vehicle documents. Policemen do little to enforce the law, parents fail to exercise adequate checks and teens are having a free run, violating traffic rules on several counts.

Badal Wankhade

, 40, who works in a government office in the city is still scared and angry after an accident on the M G Road last month.

“I was riding my two-wheeler when two boys on a scooter appeared from the wrong side and hit my bike head on. They were wearing school uniforms and before I could react, they fled at top speed cutting through traffic. I suffered some bruises after I fell. Since then, I am afraid of youngsters on twowheelers,” Wankhade told TOI.

Underage driving is a huge problem in the city leading to serious road accidents. The traffic branch of the Pune police has said they will impose a fine on the guardians or parents of underage teens caught riding two-wheelers.

Road safety activists said under the Motor Vehicle Act allowing a 16-year-old to get a driving licence, should be abolished with immediate effect as many take undue advantage.

“The fact that 16-year-olds can get a licence for a gearless 50cc scooterettes is completely wrong. Two-wheeler manufacturers have now stopped manufacturing such vehicles so this provision should be abolished,”

Prashant Inamdar

of Pedestrians First, told TOI.

Housewife Sunita Jagtap from Kondhwa said, “ The policemen are not doing enough. I find many young boys and girls on two-wheelers, parking wrongly, without helmets and riding rashly. I have been hit on two occasions, ” she said.

Deputy commissioner of police (traffic)

Ashok Morale

also felt the licensing rule should change. “While I will not comment on the law, I agree with the view. The police, until now, used to warn the parents of the minors caught riding and recover the usual fine. Now, we will penalize the parents of such minors by imposing a fine on them as well. We do carry out awareness campaigns against this issue,” he told TOI.

Deputy RTO

Vinod Sagare

told TOI that they too have got stricter. “Vehicles of 50cc power are scarce now. So those coming for licences are also very few. However, if anyone applies, we ask for the papers of the vehicle which he or she intends to ride,” the official said.

When contacted, Pune MP

Anil Shirole

said he will initiate talks with transport minister Nitin Gadkari about the rule. “I will go through the whole issue and will talk to the Union minister. Underage driving is risky and no one wants accidents,” Shirole told TOI.

Senior RTO officials passed the buck to the traffic police and parents. “A 16-year-olds getting a licence will misuse it. It is the parents’ job to ensure that their underage children don’t ride two-wheelers,” the official, requesting anonymity, said.