Royal Bhutan Police.

Police introduce sticker notice to address double parking

For the convenience of commuters and the general public, traffic police of the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) initiated a drive against on-street parking violations by pasting an infringement notice sticker on the driver’s side of the windshield.

A police official with the traffic division said that police personnel on duty will take pictures of the wrongly parked vehicles and the vehicle’s registration number with the sticker pasted on it.

“The details of the vehicle including the registration number will be saved in our system and there is no way the violator can escape the notice,” he said.
The driver or the owner of the vehicle that has the sticker pasted on it, should report to the traffic division with the RBP. In case the violator fails to respond to the notice within three days, it will be considered a serious violation and the driver or the owner will be dealt as per the Road Safety and Transport Authority Act.
The police official said that the infringement sticker system is being introduced for the convenience of the general public and also to reduce the risk of hit and run incidences. “Our intention is not to penalize the public but to discipline our drivers to follow traffic rules and regulations.”

There are irresponsible drivers who park their vehicles wherever they like be it in the core town area, on the outskirts of the city or along the highway, he added.
He said that improperly parked vehicles leave less space for the moving vehicle to pass. If vehicles are parked properly and the road is clear then there is very less chance that a driver, even if he is drunk, will hit the parked vehicle.

The official pointed out that improper parking of the victim’s vehicle causes most of the recent hit and run cases reported to the division.
“It is our responsibility to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and also to prevent chaos on the roads,” he said. “We al- locate our men to certain areas during peak hours so that traffic jam is avoided.”

However, the division is not able to allocate its men at all the places to monitor every driver because of limited manpower.
Besides using mobile phones while driving, poor lane discipline and drink driving, tailgating is one of the most common causes of road accidents.
He said that some drivers are extremely impatient and they drive very close to the vehicle at the front. “There are drivers who are new to driving and it is important that drivers maintain a safe distance between the vehicles.”

Pedestrians also have a responsibility when using the road. He said that use of zebra crossing and walk ways, and crossing the zebra crossing at a fast pace are some of the measures pedestrians can follow to avoid collisions on the road.
Using of proper lane, signals and following speed limits; parking vehicles in the designated parking areas without obstructing other road users are some of the traffic rules and regulation every driver should follow, he said.

“If commuters are more responsible and follow the traffic rules and regulations then the number of accidents will be greatly reduced,” he said.

Courtesy: Kuensel dated November 4, 2016

Posted on:04 November,2016