The State Transport Authority (STA) in a bid to curb the rising number of deaths of minors in road accidents began a drive against underage driving in the State from Tuesday.
Earlier, the STA had warned of stringent action against the violators along with registered owners of the vehicles found driven by them.
So far, as many as seven minors from various districts and the capital city were booked for traffic rule violation on the first day. While two minors were fined in Rayagada, two others were booked in Sambalpur, two in Padampur in Bargarh district and one in Bhubaneswar. All of them were fined of Rs 25,000 each by the respective RTOs.
In Bhubaneswar, the minor, a student of private college, was booked for driving a two-wheeler without a helmet. He was reportedly on his sway to appear for an examination.
Official sources said the special drive is mainly focussing on areas near schools and colleges.
STA Additional Commissioner (Enforcement) Lalmohan Sethi said the violators would be awarded three-year jail term and cases would be lodged against the registered owner of the vehicle.
“In 2021, as many as 132 minor boys and 23 minor girls died in separate road accidents. Drunken driving, over-speeding and violating other traffic norms are the major reasons for road accident fatalities. Now, this special drive with the help of police will crack down on underage driving in school and college areas,” he added.
The drive would continue from till April first week, STA officials said.