Kerala Man Left Baffled After Being Challaned For ¡®Driving Without Sufficient Fuel¡¯
These days, you can find yourself on the wrong side of the law for speeding, riding without a helmet and ¡ª apparently ¡ª 'driving without sufficient fuel'.
These days, you can find yourself on the wrong side of the law for speeding, riding without a helmet and ¡ª apparently ¡ª 'driving without sufficient fuel'.
A man in Kerala recently received a challan which said that he was riding his motorcycle without sufficient fuel with passengers. Yes, you read that right.
Man challaned for driving without sufficient fuel
The image of the e-challan sent by Kerala Traffic Police was posted by the man, who has been identified as Basil Syam, on his Facebook account.
Representational Image/PTI
The man was riding a Royal Enfield Classic 350 motorcycle and was on his way to his workplace, when the local traffic police flagged him down for riding in the opposite direction in a one-way street, BikeDekho reported. He was then asked to pay a fine of Rs 250 for this offence, to which he duly complied.
Syam told BikeDekho that when he reached his workplace, he looked at the traffic and to his shock, found the reason to be ¡®Driving without sufficient fuel with passengers¡¯.
Many local news outlets and content creators on YouTube spoke to experts to shed more light on this traffic offence. They were, however, told that there is no clause in Indian Motor Vehicle Act or state law to prohibit anyone from driving/riding their vehicle with low fuel.
According to Mashable, the only fuel-related offence mentioned in Kerala transport law is that if a commercial vehicle - like van, car, bus and auto - runs out of fuel before commuting the passengers to the destination then the driver or the owner of the vehicle has to pay a fine of Rs 250.
Man on bicycle challaned for 'dangerous driving'
Last year, a man riding his bicycle in Gujarat's Surat found himself challaned for riding on the wrong side of national highway-53.
Rajbahadur Yadav, a migrant daily wage labourer, was caught by the traffic cop near Gabheni crossroads close to Sachin GIDC on the highway, The Times of India reported. Ironically, the cop who issued the challan wrongly cited the Motor Vehicle Act instead of the Gujarat Police Act.
TOI
The challan showed offence under section 184 of MV Act - which labels it driving dangerously. The TOI report said that the senior officials later confessed that the section mentioned is wrong.
As the photo of Yadav with challan went viral, there was anger against the police. But police have maintained that they have been penalising bicycle riders on this road to prevent fatal accidents.
Traffic officials also claimed that riding a bicycle on the wrong side is punishable.
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