The Punjab chief minister’s office said on Tuesday that the provincial government had, in principle, decided to issue motorcycle licences and smart cards to 16-year-old motorists.
The traffic police’s crackdown on traffic violations across the province left motorists in turmoil when they lodged over 4,600 cases and arrested around 3,100 citizens, including a large number of schoolchildren, during the last 72 hours, creating a criminal record for a majority of them.
Parents lambasted the Punjab government for making criminal profiles of these children, saying it would have long-term consequences on their careers and declaring it an overreaction by the traffic police.
According to a statement from the office, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif expressed her displeasure over minors being handcuffed for violating traffic rules.
“A decision has been made in principle to issue smart cards and motorcycle licences to 16-year-olds,” the statement read. “Traffic police across the province will also host an awareness week for the public, especially for students.”
The statement added that a warning would be issued for motorcyclists not wearing helmets for their first offence, while drones and police body cameras would be employed for the first time by the traffic police officials.
“Parents should be playing a greater role in abiding by traffic rules, more so than children and students,” CM Maryam was quoted as saying. “Traffic rules have been created to protect people. The public needs to change their habits for their own safety.”
She added that she did not want to arrest children, but emphasised that they needed to obey the law.
“It’s not the children’s fault, we did not teach them to wear helmets,” the CM was quoted as saying. “Parents need to teach their children about the importance of helmets for road safety.”
Last week, the Punjab government introduced 20 major reforms in the 60-year-old Traffic Act, aiming to bring about better traffic management in the province, including a decisive crackdown to end underage driving, which may be punishable by six months’ imprisonment.
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