Click photos, slap fine: Chennai traffic cops' new mantra

CHENNAI: In the last 22 days, Greater Chennai Traffic Police (GCTP) have booked and fined around 42,000 traffic violators with the help of policemen posted at traffic junctions who photograph the violators, police said.

Traffic constables were directed to capture traffic offences such as stop-line violations, pillion riders without helmets, triples riding and defective number plates in their phone cameras and the same were submitted after which cases were registered.

In Chennai city, 312 traffic signals are currently being operated in which 186 signals are being operated using remote controls.

Among the violations, 17,043 of them were booked for stop line violations, 13,484 of them were helmetless riding, 7,564 of them were booked for riding on the wrong lane, 3,511 booked for jumping signals and 1,103 for riding vehicles with defective number plates.

"Since the officer posted at the junctions will be busy operating signals and manning the traffic, the violators go scot-free. So we decided to tighten the checks at junctions which is proving effective," said a senior police officer.

In a special drive conducted for drunken driving cases, the GCTP in the last two months disposed of as many as 7,286 pending drunken driving cases and Rs 7.53 crore was collected as fine amount.