Road accidents in India are more often than not caused due to immaturity of the rider or the non-adherence of the law. Another fact about accidents, especially the ones with bikes, is that they involve youngsters, who have a rush of adrenaline, leading to a mishap. In order to diminish this threat, the Tamil Nadu government has taken a strong measure to create a reprimand system for offenders.
A circular has been issued by the state’s education department to schools in Tamil Nadu that says they would be held responsible in case a student is found riding any two-wheeler, ranging from an automatic scooter to a heavy touring motorcycle. Economic Times reported that the schools have been asked to get speed-breakers constructed near their main gates.
The circular, issued by the Tamil Nadu state government, read, “The circular states that schools will be held responsible if students ride motorbikes or scooters, but students’ parents buy motorbikes for their children, sometimes even if the school has a rule banning students from riding motorcycles.”, correspondent said.
Chitra Prasad, correspondent at NSN Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chitlapakkam, said, “I’m certainly not going to stand on the road and look for students who are breaking the rule. But parents of Class 11 students are required to sign an undertaking that they will not let their children come to school on motorbikes. Our school has for several years had a ban on students riding motorbikes.”
Some officials feel that the responsibility of this should jointly held by parents and school because the latter cannot monitor a student in case something happens outside the campus. Notably, the Motor Vehicles Act gives permission to a 16-year old to ride non-gear two wheelers below 50 cc capacity. “There used to be mopeds that catered to this category. But there are few vehicles of that engine capacity currently in production,” an official from the transport authority said.
As per the law, a person of the age 18 and above can ride any motorcycle. Prasad, weighing in on the matter, said, “Riding a motorcycle is a skill that even a Class 4 student can master but a minor is usually not mature enough to ride responsibly on the road.” Interestingly, transport officials cannot book under age people under the Motor Vehicle Act in the case of an accident so the owner is held liable.
