50% traffic fine rebate will make roads unsafe in Karnataka, warn experts: Report
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government's 50% rebate on traffic e-challan fines has drawn sharp criticism from road safety experts. While some welcome the financial relief, experts warn it sends the wrong message—urging violators to “wait for discounts” instead of following rules—potentially encouraging repeat offences by reducing the fear of penalties.
Traffic and transport expert Prof. M.N. Sreehari described the decision as a "wrong signal" from the government. “Instead of collecting fines, the government is giving offers to violators, which is unlawful. The law clearly states that anyone who violates the law should be penalised, not offered discounts. Such measures will only encourage more violations and reduce the fear of law and rules. Instead of offering discounts, the government should focus on educating violators about road safety,” The New Indian Express quoted him as saying.
Prof. Sreehari stressed that such blanket concessions risk eroding the deterrent value of fines, which are meant to discourage reckless driving. “Motorists may assume that penalties can always be negotiated later, encouraging repeated violations. Meanwhile, others who paid their fines promptly at full rates may feel penalised for their compliance,” he added.
A senior traffic police officer quoted by TNIE acknowledged that while the rebate offers temporary financial relief, particularly for delivery personnel, auto-rickshaw drivers, and cab operators, it also raises serious safety concerns. These groups, often in a rush due to work demands, are among the most frequent violators. The officer noted that such individuals may break rules, pay only half the fine, and continue repeating offences. These violations, including signal jumping, riding without helmets, or driving without seat belts, are not minor lapses but serious risks that can lead to injuries or fatalities.
Another officer emphasised that the government must treat this rebate as a one-time measure to recover pending dues, not a recurring policy. If repeated, such concessions could shift public perception from following traffic rules to simply waiting for the next discount.
This is not the first time the Karnataka government has introduced such a concession. In 2023, similar rebate schemes were announced on two separate occasions.
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Robert Duvall, Oscar-winning actor and 'Godfather' mainstay, dead at 95
Los Angeles (AP): Robert Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the first two "Godfather" movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in "Tender Mercies," has died at age 95.
Duvall died “peacefully” at his home Sunday in Middleburg, Virginia, according to an announcement from his publicist and from a statement posted on his Facebook page by his wife, Luciana Duvall.
“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” Luciana Duvall wrote. “His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented."
The bald, wiry Duvall didn't have leading man looks, but few "character actors" enjoyed such a long, rewarding and unpredictable career, in leading and supporting roles, from an itinerant preacher to Josef Stalin.
Beginning with his 1962 film debut as Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbor in "To Kill a Mockingbird," Duvall created a gallery of unforgettable portrayals.
They earned him seven Academy Award nominations and the best actor prize for "Tender Mercies," which came out in 1983. He also won four Golden Globes, including one for playing the philosophical cattle-drive boss in the 1989 miniseries "Lonesome Dove," a role he often cited as his favorite.
In 2005, Duvall was awarded a National Medal of Arts.
He had been acting for some 20 years when "The Godfather," released in 1972, established him as one of the most in-demand performers of Hollywood. He had made a previous film, "The Rain People," with Francis Coppola, and the director chose him to play Tom Hagen in the mafia epic that featured Al Pacino and Marlon Brando among others.
Duvall was a master of subtlety as an Irishman among Italians, rarely at the centre of a scene, but often listening and advising in the background, an irreplaceable thread through the saga of the Corleone crime family.
“Stars and Italians alike depend on his efficiency, his tidying up around their grand gestures, his being the perfect shortstop on a team of personality sluggers,” wrote the critic David Thomson. “Was there ever a role better designed for its actor than that of Tom Hagen in both parts of The Godfather?'”
In another Coppola film, "Apocalypse Now," Duvall was wildly out front, the embodiment of deranged masculinity as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, who with equal vigour enjoyed surfing and bombing raids on the Viet Cong. Duvall required few takes for one of the most famous passages in movie history, barked out on the battlefield by a bare-chested, cavalry-hatted Kilgore: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of em, not one stinkin' dink body.
"The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like — victory.”
Coppola once commented about Duvall: "Actors click into character at different times — the first week, third week. Bobby's hot after one or two takes."
