Unlicensed driving at an alarming high

Over 100 drivers were held by the Traffic Police last week for operation of vehicles without license.

Statistics released by Traffic Management Department of Maldives Police Service for the one-week period from July 6-12 shows the traffic police conducted spot checks on 441 vehicles in the Greater Male’ Area and found 118 vehicles were operated by unlicensed drivers.

27 percent of the vehicles checked by the police during the period were operated by unlicensed drivers.

Land Transport Act prohibits the operation of vehicles by unlicensed drivers. It also requires licensed drivers to have their licenses on them when they operate vehicles.

The statistics show 81 licensed drivers were discovered operating their vehicles without their license on them.

Other top violations noticed during the period was overspeeding, lack of insurance and road worthiness, and violation of traffic signs.

TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS:

• Unlicensed: 118
• Without license card: 81
• Overspeeding: 69
• Lack of insurance and roadworthiness: 49
• Lack of annual fee payment: 33
• Violation of traffic signs: 13
• Underage driving: 1

The statistics also show 5 people were injured in 31 accidents during the past week. Authorities suspended licenses of six people in connection to the accidents.

881 vehicles were issued parking violation stickers.

FINE FOR PARKING VIOLATION

• First offense: MVR 250
• Second offense: MVR 500
• Third offense: MVR 750

88 vehicles were towed by the traffic police during the last one-week period.

The police also issued warnings to 120 drivers for operating a vehicle while on their phones or with their headsets on, 11 drivers for illegal overtaking maneuvers, and nine for smoking while operating a vehicle.