The Islamabad Traffic Police has decided to add mobile phone use while driving to the list of serious offenses and proposed heavy fines for the violators.
This includes sending messages, talking on the phone, and making videos using smartphones while driving.
After taking up the matter in the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Law, the traffic police has proposed a fine of Rs1, 000 for motorcyclists, Rs1, 500 for car drivers, and Rs2, 000 for the drivers of public transport.
The Superintendent of the Islamabad Traffic Police, Sarfaraz Virk explained that presently, use of phone while driving has been classified under “other miscellaneous offenses” He further said that the police has forwarded the proposal for an increase in fines to the cabinet division and are just waiting for cabinet’s approval.
Data on road traffic accidents in Islamabad
According to the data shared by the Islamabad Traffic Police, Since January this year, there have been 53 registered accidents where a vehicle hit a bike and 43 out of them were fatal. 21 accidents were registered with ITP where a vehicle hit a pedestrian, and 15 of them were fatal. Out of 30 vehicle-to-vehicle collisions during the same period, 11 were fatal. The number of unregistered cases is not known.
SP Virk says ITP is short on staff
SP ITP said that the traffic police of the capital was facing severe staff and resource shortages. He elaborated that the ITP has the same number of staff – 685 traffic police officers and jawans – as it had back in 2005 when the population of the capital was around half a million. The population of Islamabad over the last 1.5 decades has risen to 2.2 million.
SP Virk also revealed that the ITP has “proposed to increase the staff to 2,600-plus to increase presence across the city, including two new zones. Of these, over 1,200 wardens will be dedicated for the enforcement of regulations on roads”.
He explained that these increased resources are especially needed after the number of vehicles in the capital increased to around 1.17 million in April 2021.