Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Jan 27: In a stern warning aimed at curbing reckless driving, Mangaluru city police commissioner Sudheer Reddy on Tuesday announced that motorists who drive under the influence of alcohol and cause fatal accidents will be booked under the ‘Culpable Homicide’ law, attracting imprisonment of up to 10 years.
He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating the National Road Safety Month celebrations, organised under the leadership of the Karnataka State Police, at the Kudmul Ranga Rao Town Hall in the city.
Commissioner Reddy said that providing vehicles to minors and driving while intoxicated are serious and punishable offences. Despite sustained awareness campaigns, compliance with traffic regulations remains poor.
He revealed that within the Mangaluru city limits, 171 road accidents were reported in 2025, of which 25 cases involved minors driving vehicles, while several other incidents involved drunken driving resulting in loss of life.
“In view of this alarming trend, traffic police have already been instructed to strictly invoke the culpable homicide provisions in such cases,” he said.
Highlighting the root causes of fatal accidents, the police commissioner stated that 169 accident-related deaths in Mangaluru occurred purely due to negligence. Only one or two deaths were linked to road potholes or other infrastructural reasons, situations in which the government or administration is often blamed. “However, no one speaks about the hundreds of deaths caused by sheer negligence,” he observed, adding that awareness and alertness while driving remain severely lacking.
He further cautioned against attempts to give a communal or religious colour to criminal incidents. “Just as murder cases are sometimes politicised or communalised, there are efforts to give even road accidents a communal angle. Such attempts will not be tolerated,” he warned.
Emphasising shared responsibility, Commissioner Reddy said that preventing road accidents is not the duty of the police alone but a personal responsibility of every citizen. Every driver, he said, must adopt the mindset: “I will drive cautiously. Even if the other person makes a mistake, I will remain alert so that nothing happens to me,” he said.
“When those who question others also begin to question themselves and understand their own duties, then our city will witness neither accidents nor other social problems. We are waiting for that day,” he remarked.
Chief guest Devadas Kapikad, noted Tulu theatre personality and film director, said negligence-related accidents can be prevented when every individual drives with the awareness that “when I step out of my house, my family is waiting for me to return.”
Renowned neurosurgeon Dr Arjun Shetty said that strict adherence to traffic rules while carrying passengers or handing over vehicles to others could prevent not only deaths but also the intense physical suffering of victims and the emotional trauma endured by their families.
Addressing the gathering, Jaibunnisa, Judge of the Mangaluru district sessions court, said that 4.5 lac road accidents were reported across the country in 2025, resulting in 1.6 lac deaths. Significantly, 55% of those killed were aged between 18 and 35 years. In Mangaluru alone, over 600 cases of drunken driving have been detected, she said, stressing that strict observance of traffic rules is essential to saving lives.
As part of the programme, awareness was generated through the screening of videos depicting the causes and severity of major road accidents reported in the city. Schoolchildren from various city schools were engaged through a quiz competition aimed at promoting knowledge of traffic regulations.
Traffic wardens who have been serving the city selflessly and without expectation of reward, along with social workers Francis Maxim Moraes, Hasan, Violet Pereira, Roshan Roy Siqueira, Boobanna, Ramesh Kavoor and Basheer Haleangadi, were honoured on the occasion.
Traffic police personnel Mansija Banu, who displayed exceptional duty consciousness by transporting an accident victim to hospital on her scooter while on duty, was felicitated.
Deputy commissioners of police Mithun Kumar and P Umesh, KSRTC Mangaluru Divisional Controller Rajesh Shetty, Assistant Commissioners of Police Geetha Kulkarni and Vijay Kanthi, among others, were present on the dais.
ACP Najma Farooqi welcomed the gathering, while RJ Anurag compered the programme.