Buses to be fined for windscreen boards in Kolkata

• Kolkata Police fines buses for obstructing drivers' view with left windshield boards
•  Fines imposed on defaulters, with 12 cases registered last week.
• Law prohibits anything that interferes with the driver's control, and bus drivers were given enough time to remove the boards

The Kolkata Police has decided to issue heavy fines to private buses if they fail to remove the boards on the left side of their windshields that prevent drivers from seeing to the left and smaller vehicles on that side are at risk of being hit.

This comes weeks after the Shyambazar Traffic Guard ordered buses to remove the plates to save others on the road from plunging into the blind spot.

Traffic wardens of Shyambazar and Vidyasagar have already started fines of Rs 500 for first-time defaulters and Rs 1,000 for repeat violators. The Shyambazar police station has registered 12 cases in the last week. Section 125 of the MV Act is imposed, which solves the obstacle to the driver.

No person behind the wheel should allow anyone to stand or sit or position anything in such a way as to interfere with their control of the vehicle, the law states. "We have given enough time to the bus drivers to remove the boards. They can hang them on the side of the body or under the mirror, but they cannot cover the front glass," the officer said, adding bus unions are linking the routes post-Covid. posted boards with new routes.

"As part of our drive to highlight the dangers of the blind spot for drivers, auxiliary direction boards, which are usually placed on the left side of the windshield, are being removed," said an officer from Lalbazar.