Kerala Transport Minister C P John has announced tougher action against underage driving and parents who allow minors access to vehicles, while the state government plans to revise private bus schedules that may be encouraging speeding on congested roads.
Speaking to reporters in Thrissur on Tuesday, John said parents should prevent their minor children from driving and should consider selling their vehicles if they were unable to stop them from using them. He said parents must be held responsible when minors are caught driving because they provide access to the vehicles.
“Parents should strictly deny their children access to vehicle keys,” the minister said, according to the report. The government is expected to intensify enforcement against both minors who drive and parents who allow them to do so.
The proposed action comes amid continuing concerns over road safety and the role of underage driving in urban and inter-city traffic. The minister’s remarks place responsibility not only on young drivers but also on vehicle-owning households that permit minors to use cars, motorcycles or other vehicles.
John also referred to accidents linked to the rash driving of private stage carriage buses. He said existing bus schedules were no longer realistic in current traffic conditions and needed to be restructured.
Under the present norms, a stage carriage bus is expected to cover one kilometre in two-and-a-half minutes. The minister said this target may not be feasible on roads affected by frequent congestion. When buses lose time in traffic bottlenecks, drivers may speed after clearing those sections in an effort to reach their destinations within the stipulated schedule.
The government is now planning to revise bus timings by taking prevailing road and traffic conditions into account. It is also considering flexible schedules for private stage carriage buses, allowing timings to vary according to traffic intensity at different hours and in different cities.
The proposed change would shift bus scheduling away from a uniform travel-time assumption and towards a system that reflects actual road conditions. The report did not specify which routes would be revised, when the new schedules would be introduced or what enforcement mechanism would accompany the change.
For commuters, the schedule review could affect the timing and frequency of private buses, while for operators and drivers it could change the time standards used to plan services. The government’s stated objective is to reduce the pressure created when buses are required to make up lost time on congested roads.
John said the state would take stern measures to curb underage driving and act against parents who allow minors access to vehicles. Further details of the enforcement measures and the revised bus schedules are yet to be announced.
