Licence to flout rules for learners.... Learner drivers can drive only the motor training school’s vehicle under the eye of a trained driver with a permanent driving licence

A learner driver illegally steering a vehicle unsupervised on Panditiya Road fatally knocked down a woman on Thursday morning. Shutterstock

Monalisa Chaudhuri, TT, 23 February 2019, Calcutta: A learner driver illegally steering a vehicle unsupervised on Panditiya Road fatally knocked down a woman on Thursday morning.

Learn by rote some of the 186 traffic guidelines and score at least six out of 10 in a multiple-choice online test to get yourself a learner’s licence for driving.

The absence of a separate law to punish learner’s licence-related offences allows many to test their newfound driving skills on public roads, putting pedestrians and motorists at risk.

A learner driver illegally steering a vehicle unsupervised on Panditiya Road fatally knocked down a woman on Thursday morning.

Learner drivers can only drive the motor training school’s vehicle under the supervision of a trained driver with a permanent driving licence.

The offence of a learner who drives alone or drives a private car is akin to that of one who drives without a licence. Driving without a licence attracts a penalty of Rs 450. A subsequent violation invites a fine of Rs 500.

There is also no provision to check if someone who has just cleared the practical test and got a permanent licence is driving a car that has two “L” signs and that too in the presence of a driver for at least 30 days from the date of issuance of the permanent licence.

“It is a problem when people start driving even before they are properly trained. The only way to find an offender is to check each and every vehicle for a driving licence but that is next to impossible. We carry out random checks on vehicles that seem to be moving in a suspicious way,” said an officer of the traffic department.

Once armed with a learner’s licence, a candidate becomes eligible for a 30-day training at a government-approved motor training school. At the end of the training, one has to appear for the practical test, on clearing which s/he would get a permanent licence.

Even after getting a permanent licence, the driver must put up two “L” signs at the back and the front of the car and drive only under the supervision of a trained driver for another month.

An official attached with a driving school in south Calcutta said candidates often try to hasten the process by offering a bribe or forcing the school to issue an NOC even before appearing for the practical test.

“We have to be very strict. We cannot control what they do outside the training school, but the least we can do is to make them undergo the full training,” the official said. But, in reality, there are training schools where certificates can be “arranged”.

Former Calcutta police commissioner Rajeev Kumar had said at a traffic programme last year that getting a passport is difficult in India, but not getting a driving licence.

“If someone is born here, lives here, (then) getting a passport should be easy, but driving is a skill, it (a licence) should be difficult (to get) and just because I am able to drive doesn’t mean I need to get a driving licence. I need to be able to understand the traffic science,” he had said.