Islamabad:Lahore High Court on Thursday ordered the police to take stern legal action against the parents of underage drivers as they are causing fatal accidents, a lawyer said.
An advocate of the High Court, Waseem Yousuf Khan, told Xinhua news agency that Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi passed the judgment and directed the police to take action against parents in case of repeated violations.
The court asked the police to seek a written undertaking from the underage drivers’ parents before releasing the violators.
“Seek written affidavits from parents of underage drivers, if caught, at first instance and in case of subsequent violation, give a final warning and ask the parents to submit surety bonds which would be followed by strict punishment,” the judge told the police.
The court was hearing a petition highlighting a drastic increase in road accidents due to non-compliance of traffic rules and plying of motorbikes and rickshaws driven by youngsters and adults without driving licenses in the province.
The court also directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to run a campaign on TV channels to create awareness about the danger of underage driving.
According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, around 9,000 road accidents have been reported every year since 2011 in the country, killing more than 4,500 people on an average annually.
Traffic police officials said that 90 per cent of the accidents in Pakistan are caused merely by human error, adding that the share of underage and unauthorized drivers in the accidents is increasing every year.
[source_without_link]IANS[/source_without_link]