Seven-seaters plying at their will

Notwithstanding the near fatal accidents they have been associated with, seven-seater autorickshaws have been a constant source of worry for both the road-users and the traffic police, writes K. SRINIVAS REDDY.

REMEMBER THE story of an Arab and his camel? The Arab sleeps in his tent and the camel out during a desert storm. The camel requests its master to allow it to rest its head in the tent and the Arab obliges. Then the camel drags itself into the tent pushing the Arab out of it.

The other day the Police Commissioner, Mr. P. Ramulu, took this example to narrate how the seven-seater autorickshaws were creating problems for the general road-users in the twin cities. Autorickshaw associations raised a hue and cry when the seven- seaters were initially introduced in the twin cities, but none took them seriously.

But when the seven-seaters were involved in a couple of ghastly accidents, everyone started questioning the road worthiness of the new model vehicle and some structural designs were also made to the vehicles. Though not many fatal accidents involving the seven-seaters were reported subsequently, the newly-introduced vehicles seem to have become a constant source of worry for both the road-users and the traffic police.

What appears to be a flagrant violation of rules on part of seven-seater autorickshaw drivers is that while they are permitted to ply as contract carriages, they have been operating as stage carriers. A contract carriage is a vehicle which is expected to pick up a group of passengers to be transported from one point to another. According to rules, it shall not pick up or drop individual passengers on the way. In effect, the vehicle driver enters into a contract with a group of passengers, hence called a contract carriage.

However, no seven-seater driver appears to be following this rule and they are effectively functioning as stage carriers, which pick up passengers at any place and drop them at any place they want. Here lies the hitch. With Road Transport authorities and the traffic police turning a negligent eye on this aspect, these vehicles are giving rise to many problems -- causing traffic congestion and unruly driving leading to further slowing down of the vehicular traffic.

The seven-seater driver's competition with city buses and the three-wheeler autorickshaws in picking up passengers is leading to manifold problems which have a cascading effect. With these vehicles being parked at bus bays along with the three-seater autorickshaw, the city buses are forced to halt in the middle of the road thus causing traffic congestion.

Since the seven-seater driver is as good or as bad as the three- wheeler driver, most of these vehicles can be seen plying right in the middle of the road restricting the movement of other vehicles. In addition to this, the sudden stops or turns at the will of the driver has been adding to the confusion on roads. "We will crack down on these vehicles plying illegally", Mr. Ramulu warned last week. But efforts are yet to begin to check operation of these vehicles in the twin cities.

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Section  : Southern States
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