Thiruvananthapuram: In light of a sharp rise in traffic rule violations involving police vehicles, the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) S Sreejith has directed all District Police Chiefs to ensure that the respective police drivers pay the fines associated with the violations.

As all police vehicles in Kerala are registered under the name of the Director General of Police, traffic violation notices issued across the state are sent directly to police headquarters.

The majority of infractions by police vehicles involve offences such as failure to wear seat belts or helmets, disregarding traffic signals, and over-speeding. Under the new directive, the department will address over-speeding and traffic signal violations. However, fines for seat belt and helmet infractions will be the personal responsibility of the individual officers.

Police personnel with unpaid fines must check the Parivahan website of the Motor Vehicles Department, pay the penalties, and submit a report with the receipt to the DGP. Going forward, officers are required to clear these fines by the fifth day of every month and provide proof of payment.

Although police vehicles, like ambulances, are exempt from certain restrictions, such as over-speeding and ignoring traffic signals during emergencies, the Motor Vehicles Department usually extends this exemption to vehicles used by senior police officials.

The accumulation of unpaid traffic fines has become a significant challenge for the police department, particularly when auctioning old vehicles. Such vehicles cannot be auctioned until all pending fines are cleared.