RTO: Automated driving track project for license to be shelved

Jaipur: The recently introduced automated driving track at Jagatpura won’t see the light of the day. The project will be shelved by the Congress government.

The transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariawas told media persons that there were irregularities in the tender process. After the tenders were issued in the previous BJP government, the company which was awarded the work didn’t invest anything. Despite that, the company will be paid Rs 250 per trial.

Jaipur: The recently introduced automated driving track at Jagatpura won’t see the light of the day. The project will be shelved by the Congress government. The transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariawas told media persons that there were irregularities in the tender process. After the tenders were issued in the previous BJP government, the company which was awarded the work didn’t invest anything. Despite that, the company will be paid Rs 250 per trial.

Thirteen automated driving tracks were to be introduced across the state including RTO Jagatpura.

“Paying that much amount of money per trial doesn’t make sense when the company has made no investments. We will shelve the project for now,” said Khachariawas.

He said that the people are already being made to pay Rs 1350 as license fee, so the government can’t add Rs 250 to the existing fee. It will be an unnecessary financial burden on driving license applicants.

“There had been irregularities in the tender process, so we can’t continue with it,” said the minister.

The RTO Jagatpura had used the tracks on a trial basis, but stopped the trials when the majority of the driving license applicants – almost 85% – failed to pass the test. Of the 80 people who gave trial on the track, 68 were declared not fit for license.

These people complained that they were declared unfit for license even on account of small mistakes. These people will need to pay the test free – Rs 300 – again and go through the trial again in a week.

The applicants go through four phases of the trial. In the first phase, they have to park the vehicle parallel and in an angular angle in 30 seconds. In the second phase, they need to drive forward and in reserve on an 8-shaped track in just 30 seconds. In the third phase, they get 70 seconds to drive on an H-shaped track while following all the traffic rules. In the fourth phase, the applicant needs to drive on an elated track with a height of up to 5 feet. If the driver couldn’t control the vehicle for 20 seconds, the sensors will go off.

Cameras automatically record the mistakes made by an applicant. The marks are reduced on the basis of the number of mistakes.