With improvements in road infrastructure, the police and traffic department have also started using new technology to improve surveillance on the road. We have come across several videos and reports where these cameras have wrongfully issued challans to motorists. Here, we have a video of a man from Agra who is now driving a car while wearing a helmet after he was once fined by authorities for not wearing one.
The video has been circulating on various social media platforms. In the video seen here, we see Mr. Gulshan, who is a teacher by profession, sitting in the driver’s seat of a car. The reporter asks him for the reason behind this act, and that is when he explains things. He says that on November 26, authorities fined him Rs 1,100 for not wearing a helmet while driving a car.
He mentions that he was wearing a seat belt when the cops caught him, but he was still fined for not wearing a helmet. He was probably surprised just like you and me. We have seen this happen in the past when the cameras installed on highways and roads issue wrong challans.
However, this is probably the first time we have come across a situation where cops have issued such a wrong challan. The man can be heard saying that he is a law-abiding citizen and that he has not broken any law.
In order to ensure that he is not stopped again or fined for the same fault, he is now wearing a helmet while driving his car. It is clear from the video that the man wearing a helmet inside the car is actually a form of protest.
He doesn’t say that he will be questioning the authorities for this wrongful fine. However, he does want people to know about this issue, and that can only be done with the help of social media. The video has gone viral, and we hope that the concerned authorities step in and look into this matter.
When AI cameras were initially installed on national highways and roads, many people faced this issue. The system was issuing wrong challans for vehicles and even sending challans to the wrong owners. There was even a case where an AI camera sent a challan to a bike owner for overspeeding, and the speed of the bike was recorded as over 1,000 kmph.
This is just one of many such cases that have been reported. In many cases, cops who find drivers at fault issue challans under the same section but do not mention the exact violation on the slip. The fine for not wearing a seat belt in a car and the fine for not wearing a helmet while riding a bike might fall under the same section, and they issue it under any one of them.
However, in this case, the owner clearly mentions that he was wearing the seat belt. Whether this was actually a confusion or if the driver was issued a challan for some other violation is not clear. Whatever the reason may have been, the driver said in the video that he will continue to wear the helmet until there is clarity and also to avoid challans in the future.