Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Smart Truckers get a Challan

Truck drivers have a genius method of avoiding legal hassles: get a challan (fine, or a ticket). Here's the equation:
The worst part about breaking a rule is that you get a challan, and the best part about having a challan is that you can't be issued one twice; so a challan is akin to the cloak of invincibility.
Because challans are valid throughout a state (which makes you invincible over a large region), and because the fine is a fraction at the state borders than those inside cities, having a challan issued right upon entering a state is an awesome strategy. Now the truck can carry load beyond their allowed capacity, break traffic rules, tread on one-way roads, yet no harm can come upon them. The truckers generally put theirs up on their windshields, so that the police needn't bother them even for a confirmation of it.

The truckers thank Kiran Bedi for initiating this proposal. It's a matter of celebration for them because it frees them from the torments of the police, and reduces their chances of arrest (which, earlier, led to many truckers ending up languishing in the jail as there's usually nobody to bail them). I can see people angry over this fact, but I'd personally have a trucker being a traffic irritant than see hordes of them facing false arrests and having their vehicles impounded. As far as the question of reckless driving (when in possession of a challan) goes, I've seen them careful about others' lives; they ain't a terror.

[Thanks to Deepak for the trail, and a trucker regularly doing Haldwani-Almora stretch for the enlightenment]

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