Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai   

The test for motorists is on the road

By S. Shivakumar

CHENNAI JAN. 16 . Lack of a proper testing ground to examine the skills of those seeking driving licence in an era of modernisation shows the Transport department in poor light. Central to this issue is that hundreds of young motorists who get driving licence without proper training are forced to take the real test on the chaotic road conditions exposing them to a grave risk.

The Transport and Police departments have turned a blind eye to this problem despite criticism from several agencies involved in road safety programmes.

The two departments are held responsible for the poor state of affairs with the issue taking the spotlight as they spend huge sums on awareness campaigns as part of `Road Safety Week Celebrations'. Traffic planners and motorists are critical of these two departments, which have failed to provide basic infrastructure to test the skills of a driver before issuing a licence.

On any given day, 500 permanent driving licences and about 700 learners licence are issued by the seven Regional Transport Offices and two unit offices in the city.

For instance, at the RTO (South) in Thiruvanmiyur alone, 1,936 learners licence and 1,076 permanent licences were issued last month. Similarly, in Perambur (North RTO), 1,804 learners licence and 1,076 permanent licences were issued.

A majority of the licences are for two-wheelers and most of them prefer to get it through driving schools, which charge flat rates. Most persons manage to get their licence without proper training, traffic planners point out.

A senior transport official admits that the department lacked a proper testing ground and steps are being taken for providing one. An earlier move to convert a land on New Avadi Road near the Kilpauk Water Works into a training ground boomeranged with several persons skidding because of poor road conditions. "The track could have been improved with some corporate sponsor but we had to suspend the project for lack of support and switch to the old system of making persons driving near the office," said a traffic inspector.

"Holding the Transport department officials alone who issue driving licences without testing the skills adequately is not correct. The Government should take serious steps to identify a land for constructing a testing track. It is a not true that all candidates sponsored by driving schools are cleared," he said.

The Central RTO at Chetput was bifurcated a few years ago and one more RTO at Thirumangalam opened. However, the congestion continues. Now, the Central RTO is functioning from a premises adjacent to the Ayanavaram bus stand. "This is only a temporary arrangement. There is no adequate space for conducting tests," said an inspector said.

Claiming that the RTO personnel conducted themselves in a professional manner with the given infrastructure, an official said "earlier getting a driving licence was easy and there were instances of persons who managed to get licences without even going to the RTO. But, things are now different. Permanent driving licences are issued only after 30 days after getting learner's licence.

A proper test is conducted for those applying for learner's licence. We have even sought the help of those in the corporate sector for setting up a proper testing ground. But, we do not have the area. There was a move to set up a testing track at Koyambedu but was shelved because the land could not be acquired for various reasons".

Meanwhile, though it is imperative that those riding with learner's licence have to prominently display an `L' board on the vehicle and have a trained driver beside them, this rule is rarely followed. As on any given month, there are over 20,000 persons testing their skills with a learner's licence.

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