Chandigarh, June 14:City residents act as third eye for the UT police when it comes to traffic violations. A total of 10,381 traffic violation information slips (TVIS) have already been issued this year to traffic violators on the basis of pictures of violations shared by people via social media, including WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter.
As per the police records, a total of 9,681 pictures of traffic violations were received on the traffic police’s WhatsApp number till June 8. Similarly, the traffic police received 700 pictures of traffic violations on Facebook and Twitter, based on which the TVIS or challans were issued.
Sources said the most common violations captured by city residents on camera included wrong parking, helmetless riding, stopping vehicle on the zebra crossing, red light jumping and driving on the wrong side.
“The person sending the picture has to ensure that the traffic violation and the registration number of the vehicle are visible. Besides, the date, time and place of occurrence of the violation have to be mentioned,” said a police official.
As per the official records, a total of 28,552 TVIS challans have already been issued to violators.
Besides TVIS issued through social media, the traffic police issued 18,141 challans on the basis of violations captured in CCTV cameras installed at various intersections in the city. Since CCTV cameras installed at light points and roundabouts do not have high resolution, these cannot capture the registration number of a moving vehicle following which offences like red light jumping cannot be detected.
“A majority of TVIS issued on the basis of images captured on CCTVs are for violations related to zebra crossing,” sources said.
Sector 30 man captured 33,000 traffic violations
Baldev Singh, a resident of Sector 30, has clicked around 33,000 pictures of traffic violations in the city since 2017. He was also honoured by the UT police last year for his crusade to make city roads safer.
