Against the backdrop of a recent incident of two minors losing their lives at Swargate -- when a two wheeler which they were riding was hit by a State Transport (ST) bus -- the Pune city traffic police continued its action against minors riding two-wheelers without obtaining a driver’s licence.

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As many as 160 underage drivers were caught in two days. On day two, the city traffic police department held a special drive at various colleges in the city and caught 95 underage drivers. The department officials even called parents of the teenagers’ to the police station and warned them not to give two-wheelers to their wards until they were eligible for a driver’s licence.

Deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Vishwas Pandhare said, “Merely taking action against underage drivers won’t stop road accidents. We want to ensure that parents are informed about this and they don’t allow their children to drive until they are well aware of traffic rules.”

“On the second day of the drive, we caught 95 underage drivers, out of which five were sent to the court as the parents of the children failed to turn up at the police station. This will go on for the next six days and from the next week, when the school and colleges will re-open, we will intensify the drive,” Pandhare said.

Underage dirvers, after they were caught, gave excuses that they had just gone to a nearby place or they had some urgent work. Some of them were even began crying and pleaded to the traffic cops not to call their parents.

Namrata Singh (15), a resident of Ghorpadi said, “I just took the two-wheeler out today as I had some urgent work and today I was caught by traffic cops. If my parents will come to know then it will be a huge problem for me.”

Hemant Ghorpade (14) of Karve Road said, “Almost all my friends have a bike and my parents have purchased this bike for me. I wanted to learn it so it becomes convenient for me when I am eligible for the driving licence. I should know how to ride a two-wheeler then.”

Day one of special drive65 cases; total fine collected was Rs31,500

Day two95 cases; total fine collected was Rs55,300