Heavy penalty fails to deter vehicle owners, cops feel helpless Faridkot, September 21 Two persons were killed after an overloaded tractor-trailer carrying wheat straw mowed them down near Bajakhana town here on Saturday. The deceased have been identified as Gurjant Singh of Doad (Faridkot) and Raja Singh of Channu Wala village of Moga. According to police sources, the mishap took place around 7 pm when the driver of the overloaded tractor-trailer, who is yet to be identified, took a right turn at a high speed, hitting the bike-borne victims. Now, there is a penalty of Rs20,000 and Rs2,000 per extra tonne for overloading. However, overloaded tractor-trailers carrying wheat straw are a common sight on roads. Most of the vehicle owners are afraid of inviting a heavy penalty or a fine for violating the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, but it seems that the new Act has failed to deter tractor-trailer owners. Besides, the misuse of tractors, which are registered as vehicles meant for agricultural works, for commercial purposes, including carrying goods and gravel, is a common sight, but the traffic police rarely question them. These overloading tractor-trailers can be seen billowing clouds of smoke. Trucks and tractor-trailers, commonly carrying wheat straw, are overloaded beyond their capacity, leaving no space for other vehicles to pass by on roads. These overloaded vehicles also overturn when they lose balance, which lead to accidents. Enforcement agencies show their helplessness due to alleged political pressure and lack of a well-defined policy on the use of tractor-trailers. A traffic police officer, who did not wish to be named, said trailers do not have brakes and in case the driver applies them to stops a tractor, these skid or overturn on the road.

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