Contradictorily, MTPD has not maintained any statistics or carried out any investigations regarding accidents or deaths related to cell phone use and driving. [break]
Of the 678 registered cases, most of the driving licenses were seized but there is no further information on casualties or damages, if any.
Talking to The Week, Deputy Inspector General, MTPD, Ganeshman Rai, says, “Now we feel the need of a separate division that investigates the particular road fatalities.”
As of the current fiscal year 2010/11, the MTPD reports some 678 cases of cell phone use while driving.
The use of cell phone while driving is one of the eight major traffic violations. Since 2003, the MTPD has been taking actions against violators and conducting various awareness campaigns, but cell phone etiquettes have been freewheeling.
“Roughly, three per cent of the total number of accidents are caused due to the violation of this rule but the actual rates are higher,” informs Superintendent of Police Jagatman Shrestha of MTPD.
Amongst the 800,000 vehicles that swerve notoriously in the capital, the above statistics might be just a handful of cases that have come to notice of some 1,000 traffic personnel mobilized in the Kathmandu District. Clearly, the law enforcement of this serious traffic violation that can cost lives is flawed.
Aakash Sherchan (name changed) talks about his several accidents while driving his bike and trying to manage his phone calls. It sounds stupid but he says such episodes are frequent.
“There was once a time when I got into minor accidents twice a week while trying to make calls, mainly when I was drunk,” he says.
In Nepal, cell phones were introduced in 1998, and although there is no particular Act or Regulation that points out against the use of cell phones while driving, Anil Gurung, Under Secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Transportation (MoLT), informs that the Transportation Management Department has clearly directed that cell
phones can’t be used while one is in the driver’s seat.
“If a person is found violating the directions for the fifth time, his/her license is seized for six months,” informs SP Shrestha. Besides, traffic personnel have been directed to fine the violators a minimum of Rs 25 to Rs. 200 or seize the Bluebook or route permit.
As per MTPD’s stats, two city areas, namely, Durbar Marg and Maharajgunj, with 92 and 82 cases respectively, saw the highest number of people being fined or registered for using cell phone while driving.
“Durbar Marg is a core area for nightlife and is a shopping district,” says Rai. Along with an inspector, 53 traffic personnel are mobilized in these areas.
Talking to The Week, Traffic Inspector Sitaram Hachhethu, chief at MTPD’s Durbar Marg Department corresponds to the registered figures and stresses the need for a stronger civic sense and a hefty fine of Rs. 1000 and a higher degree of law enforcement.
“The use of cell phones while driving is as dangerous as drunk driving. The action taken against DUI should be enforced in the case of cell phone use too,” he says.
“Kantipath and Durbar Marg have witnessed serious cases in recent times. Cases in Kantipath, we’ve discovered are more dangerous in the sense that they have caused serious physical injuries to the owners and passersby while in Durbar Marg, it is the vehicles that have sustained more damage.”
Beginning last week, the MTPD’s Durbar Marg Unit has installed a Led advertising electric board in Durbar Marg. It scrolls awareness messages of the risks of the use of cell phone while driving.
Yet despite the fines and awareness campaigns that MTPD conducts, cell phones are still a common sight in drivers’ hands.
As part of the awareness campaign, all new license holders are even oriented about the directions and laws that they have to abide by regarding cell phone use.
“Along with it, we also visit schools, colleges and drivers’ union for the purpose,” says SP Shrestha.
“The MTPD should be empowered to take strong action against violators and fine them. But we don’t have the authority.”
DIG Rai, on the other hand, asserts that there is a need of a massive awareness campaign but it has been functioning under a tight budget. As an alternative to using cell phones directly while driving, Rai suggests that drivers use Bluetooth handsfree technology. And a busy Rai sports one.
With the advent of new technology, the market is flooded with a range of smartphones and wireless gadgets, Bluetooth headset being one of them.
There is also a host of hands-free devices and phone docks to suit one’s budget and taste. While there is some confusion regarding traffic violation and weak law enforcement, civic sense, it seems, triumphs over all those rules and regulations.
Taxi driver Tilak Shrestha manages to utilize earphones at times while he is driving and says he usually parks his cab before receiving calls in his cell phone.
Shrestha, who has been warned twice for using cell phone while driving, says that the laws should be properly implemented so that people take it seriously.
Shrestha feels that such implementations are for the sake of drivers’ security. But after a little hesitation, he accepts that he fails to abide by the law all the time.
“Since there are no temporary pit stops or even proper parking lots, for that matter, such rules are not feasible and effective. Besides, earphones are not durable, too.”
Saugat Chettri, senior officer at Agni Air, offers a different perspective on the situation. He says, “I used Bluetooth and earphones earlier but I don’t see the need of it anymore since Kathmandu doesn’t have heavy traffic and one can’t even speed up because of the roads.”
Chettri, who is aware of the existing directions, says that he tries not to use cell phones while driving, but not all the time.
“I did use Bluetooth while I was abroad, but in Nepal, one can unlaw the law.”
But both Chettri and Shrestha stick to the point that the departments concerned should actually start strict actions against violators.
“And maybe even if they don’t feel like it, at least they will follow the rules because of the penalties.”
However, when it comes to formulation of gazetted rules and regulations, DIG Rai says, “We can only make recommendations. It’s the decision of Ministry of Labor and Transportation to formulate and amend rules.”
In the meantime,, the use of cell phone while driving a private vehicle or public transport or riding a bike is a pretty common sight in Kathmandu’s heavily potholed and damaged roads despite certain signposts at busy junctions, and people often talk about accidents or how they escaped a possible mishap just because the drivers were attending to phone calls while driving on the dangerous roads that Kathmandu has gradually become notorious for.
The use of cell phones while driving has become as dangerous as DUI.
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