Kathmandu, November 8

Metropolitan Traffic Police Division has warned against rough and reckless driving with loud exhaust terrorising pedestrians in Kathmandu valley.

An urgent public notice issued by the MTPD said on-duty traffic cops were allowed to slap maximum penalty on the offenders in accordance with the Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Act-1993.

Traffic police may impose a fine of up to Rs 5,000 in case of customisation of a motorcycle whereas reckless driving is punishable with a fine not exceeding Rs 5,000.

Senior Superintendent of Police Bhim Prasad Dhakal said reckless riders, who caused noised pollution, were under close surveillance of traffic police and would be booked under the existing law. A section of motorcyclists enjoy revving on the streets and add to noise pollution against legal provisions. Noise pollution in commercial places, residential areas and tourist spots of the valley exceeds the Guidelines for Community Noise set by the World Health Organisation.

Earlier,  the Commerce, Industry and Consumer Welfare Relations Committee of the Parliament had directed Nepal Police to rein in movement of fancy and modified motorcycles.

Nepal Police has put into effect Valley Traffic Management and Pollution Control Improvement Action Plan. Though traffic police have effectively enforced the ban on honking, they seem to be reluctant to take action against motorcyclists who get silencers of their bikes mechanically modified resulting in noise pollution.

Number of youths using fancy bikes has increased in recent years. Some fancy bikes have factory-made exhaust sound, while others are mechanically modified. The law prohibits mechanical modification of vehicles for any purpose. According to the MTPD, it usually receives complaints against such two-wheelers for terrorising road users.

Traffic police detain such motorcycles to ascertain if their silencers were factory-made or modified. They can bring to book the modified bikes, but cannot do anything about the persons riding two-wheelers whose silencers are fixed by the company as per their cubic capacity. Traffic police don’t have exact data of such fancy bikes. More than 2.6 million bikes were registered with the Department of Transport Management as of last fiscal.