Flash and sirens have been banned in India for use on any vehicles other than emergency ones like ambulances, fire brigades, official police and Army vehicles. So what happens when a cop is found using the same on his personal vehicle? He gets challaned by other cops!
That is exactly what happened in UttarakhandĄ¯s Almora recently when a policeman from Uttar Pradesh's Badaun was there on a visit. The policeman, along with his group of friends, was in his personal Maruti Suzuki Dzire which had flashers and sirens atop of it. Since it was a private-registered vehicle, the accessories were legally not allowed to be placed on the vehicle.
Citing the illegality of this, traffic cops in the region stopped the vehicle near the Almora taxi stand. As per a report, the person driving the vehicle at the time stepped out of it and claimed that he is a senior inspector from Badaun, Uttar Pradesh and was in the city for a holiday. Following a verbal spat between the traffic cops and the police official, the City Patrol Unit (CPU) was called in.
(Representative Image: BCCL)
As per the Senior Inspector, he had no problem in using the flasher and the siren on his private vehicle back in Uttar Pradesh. Uttarakhand traffic police, however, maintained its stance on the fact that it was an illegal practice and imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on the UP Police Senior Inspector.
Since 2017, the use of sirens and flashers has been disallowed on any vehicle, including that of the Prime MinisterĄ¯s. Still, several vehicles can be spotted using these which do not necessarily fall under the category of vehicles allowed to use them. That is when the question of implementing the traffic rule comes into play. Uttarakhand police administered how the rule applies for everyone and no exceptions can be made in its implementation. Kudos to the officials for this!
Traffic challans have been the centre point of discussion since the implementation of the new Motor Vehicle Act. Interestingly, Delhi Police recently reported that there has been a massive drop in the number of challans issued to traffic rule violators in September this year, all thanks to the revised traffic penalties on such acts. Read all about it here.?