It’s a sound thrashing of traffic cacophony, all right. First, there was a crackdown on loud honking, with the traffic police booking over 160 violators in the span of one week. Now, a similar initiative is being prompted by residents of Aundh for the reverse horn menace.
Dhananjay Rau, member of the Aundh Vikas Mandal who has initiated the awareness campaign against reverse horn, echoed the residents’ demands, saying, “I welcome the drive taken by the traffic police against pressure horns as it is a nuisance to society. However, I feel a blatant use of reverse horns should also be curbed. According to the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, use of reverse horns is illegal. But, sadly, not many vehicle users know about it; they keep using the reverse horn and continue to disturb other residents.”
A few months ago, members of Aundh Vikas Mandal had started a campaign where they pasted pamphlets on vehicles which have reverse horns around the neighbourhood. “The pamphlet contains the Motor Vehicle Act rule and possible action vehicle users can face if it’s violated. Through these pamphlets, we are requesting vehicle users to remove the reverse horn,” Rau said.
Residents of other areas are also demanding similar action. Neelkanth Bajaj, president of Bavdhan Residents’ Forum, said, “The sound of the reverse horn is irritating and disturbs sleep. Traffic police should undertake a special drive like the one against regular horns as only a strict move such as this will discourage vehicle users.”
Navin Verma, member of Kalyaninagar Residents Group, spoke of the practical problems in identifying reverse- horn offenders. “We understand it will be a huge task for traffic police to pin down vehicles, which have reverse horns as it is generally used when the vehicle starts moving from a stationery position. Deployment of traffic police in parking lots is unlikely. So, citizens should be involved to track such vehicles. Police should appeal to citizens for sending them the vehicle registration number of any fourwheeler they encounter, which uses the reverse horn. That will make it easier for cops to take action,” he said.
Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Sarang Awad welcomed the suggestion. “We will surely respond to their demands positively. I appeal to all citizens to post the vehicle registration numbers of such cars along with their locations on the Pune traffic police’s Facebook page. I will immediately instruct my staff to take action against these vehicles,” he assured.