Talk while on drive to cost Driving Licence

BANGALORE: The Bangalore city traffic police who have recently implemented stringent action against drink and drive and compulsory seatbelt rule offenders, will henceforth tighten the action against violators talking on phone while driving.  As per the rule, if any person has been imposed a fine thrice for talking on phone while driving within the city limits, the department will impound the person’s DL.Police said action will be taken against drivers of both two-wheelers and fourwheelers, as traffic menace in the city has increased drastically.Dr M A Saleem, Additional Commissioner of Police, (Traffic and Security), said, “In spite of repeated warnings, drivers do not follow rules.Hence, the department has decided to take the next step, apart from imposing fine.Drivers of both twowheelers and four-wheelers will be subjected to fine, and if a person is caught for the third time for committing the same offence, traffic police will impound the DL.” Sources said in the past two months, the department had registered 31,164 cases against people talking on mobile phone while driving, and so far, 742 licences had been impounded.“Talking on phone has proved fatal as it is one among the major reasons for road accidents. Public welfare is the major concern of the department.Though such rules might seem inconvenient to public, they have been successful in reducing accidents.” Dr S Dharmendra, senior Psychiatrist, NIMHANS, opined, “People who are engaged with phones while driving are preoccupied with other things in their mind, and hence, they cannot concentrate.This eventually proves to be fatal. Nearly 15 out of 100 accidents cases registered in city limits are due to this practice.”