The State Transport Authority (STA) on Saturday announced that minors found in driving vehicles would not be issued driving licence (DL) till he/she becomes 25-year-old. The decision was taken after the officials imposed penalty of Rs 42,500 against a father whose minor son was found driving a bike in violation of the MV Act.
The boy, a college student, was found in Bhadrak to be driving a two-wheeler without a valid licence and riding on wrong route. He had also taken two of his friends on pillion.
The State Transport Department imposed the penalty on Narayan Behera, the father of Akash Behera, a college student on February 6.
RTO Traffic Inspector in Bhadrak district, Dhaneswar Nayak intercepted the the minor, who was riding the vehicle near Kaharapokhari area of Bhandaripokhari.
The challan included penalty of Rs 500 for general offence, Rs 5,000 for allowing person to drive a vehicle without valid/proper DL, Rs 5,000 for driving against the flow of traffic, Rs 1,000 for more than two persons riding a two-wheeler, Rs 1,000 for riding without helmet and Rs 25,000 under offences by juveniles under Motor VehiclesAct 2019.
Meanwhile, Transport Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda said that the road accident deaths have declined by 17 per cent in Odisha after the amended MV Act came into force on September 1 last year.
The number of road mishap deaths came down from 1,856 in September-December 2018 to 1,541 in September-December 2019, Panda said.