Fog lights have been made mandatory for night vehicles to help drivers see through dense fog but many have not installed them. Chief of the Eastern Regional Police Headquarters, Biratnagar, DIG Bhishma Prasai has directed traffic police to enforce the rule to reduce accidents at night. [break]
Seventy persons have died in road accidents in the last two months with six killed on Friday and Saturday alone, according to the data available at the traffic police office. Most of the casualties have been from accidents of small vehicles like motorcycles, cars, vans and jeeps. “The rate of accidents has gone up due to dense fog. Just putting fog lights in vehicles will greatly minimize the damage,” DIG Prasai said.
Chief of the regional traffic police office in Itahari DSP Bimal Basnet promised to enforce the rule within a couple of days. “They [drivers] have to install fog lights in vehicles and we will see to it that they put it,” Basnet vowed.
A fog light costs just around Rs 500-700 in the local market but vehicle owners and drivers have been negligent. “Long-distance vehicles have put fog lights but short-distance ones and goods carriers have not. This has increased the rate of accidents,” concedes Raju Dhamala of Nepal Independent Transport Union. He said the trend of not putting fog lights has continued in the lack of supervision by the traffic police.
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