It shouldn’t come as a major surprise to many of us because this issue of underage drivers is quite apparent on many roads across the country. From motorbikes to cars, SUV’s to utility vehicles, and in some cases even heavy vehicles are no exception to this problem. I believe that this issue is not just confined to the teenagers and untrained drivers but it has magnified on the broader spectrum, which now defines the quirks of our society in a very loud fashion. Because nowhere else in the world, people appreciate the disregard of the driving law & regulations with such appreciation.
If you were to look at the recently released PakWheels.com Auto Industry Survey, you will realize that 24% out of 11,000+ people who participated in this survey lately, admitted to not having a driving license. While 41% out of the above mentioned non-licensed percentage are teenagers who are mostly aged below 21.
Read More: PakWheels.com Auto-Industry Survey
Presently, underage drivers roam the roads of the country without any fear of being seriously reprehended for their actions. Why? Let’s be honest; it’s because the fines for the disregard of the driving license are nothing that serious. At 100, 500 & 1000 rupees for motorbike, car and public service vehicles respectively, these fines can be considered to be laughable notions. Add bribery in this scenario and you get an awful situation in which, you only have to pay a very minor amount for this offense and if you know how to negotiate, then you can weasel your way out of the offense altogether. The question now is; where does this leads us?
To me, the underage divers have not much of a fault of their own, because due to the lack of awareness regarding the legislation and its non-adequate implementation, this situation has bred a culture in our society, which enforces the underage driving without proper supervision and permissions. I believe that strict laws need to be administrated but the need for the laws alone will not be able to provide the much needed relief in this situation. No, I believe that changes are needed to be incorporated at a much more individual level; as parents need to understand the risks attached with this situation. It is time to stop taking this situation as a source of pride, which many of us aim at our children; this acts as a supplement of growth to this cycle of reprehensible situation.
Do you think that strict actions need to be administrated, to spread the sense of driving responsibility among Pakistanis? Or if you have any ideas as to what sort of action plan needs to be administrated to root out this problem, then let us know. Because, I believe that by acting today we can ensure the safety of many lives for a better tomorrow.
The title is about unlicensed driving. But the content is bashing only underage drivers. While underage drivers have no way to get a license, most of the unlicensed driving happens at the hands of people whose age group falls in the group where they are perfectly eligible to apply for the license. Underage driving and unlicensed driving happen to be totally different social issues.
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The first things is that you need to improve your choice of words. If not, the editor should help you out. Factual accuracy is on the author, and the editor’s job is to make the language correct and easily readable.
Who “enforces” the underage driving?
“Underage drivers roam the country” … Where? The occasional underage driver driving a motorbike in his/her neighbourhood is definitely seen, but “roaming the country” … why exaggerate so much?
“Because nowhere else in the world, people appreciate the disregard of the law with such appreciation.” What is the basis of this insult? Personal opinion? Or some hard facts? Did you consider the level of rape in India? The 300+ headless dead bodies that are usually found in Mexico around at least once a month? The level of male rape in USA’s prisons? The level of purse-snatching in Italy? Or the total lawlessness in Afghanistan where they do not even have a government nor have a law .. just warlords and that’s all? Or Syria where people do not want to live with their ruler and the ensuing civil war is killing 50,000 people each year since the Arab Spring?
I guess you are young enough not to know that a civil war is a disregard of the law … with such disdain that people start armed resistance against it. They shed their own blood and others. Do you witness a civil war in Pakistan? Then what is the basis of your claim. I am sure someone would soon file a lawsuit against PW Blog if such claims against national image continue to be made here.
Definitely Pakistan has its own problems with crime, and the level of crime is higher than some places but it is lower than some places also. And then there is some (or more) disregard of the law and some people do appreciate the disregard of law. But to stain the national image in an extreme way “nowhere else in the world” is blasphemy.
Coming back to your question about why underage driving happens? Not everybody does it, only those do it who are above the law. And there are many people who are above the law. Till the time law is not equal for everybody, law-breaking will continue to be justified.
The reasons of underaged driving and unlicensed driving are different, if you happen to be able to differentiate between the two.
Bhaijan licence banwanay jao to rishwat ke sath b itni mushkil se banta ha kon risk lega licence banwanay ka, i had 2 licence renewed in the past 8 years, ab mere pas himmat he nahi ke chakkar kato licence office ke or un ke nakhray bardasht karo
lol they changed the title upon your suggestion, another writer Adan Ali usually copy pastes the stuff found on internet within a few hours on Pakwheels blog and refuses to admit plagiarism. He claims that when he steals the work of Usman Ansari it is because of small size of our auto industry and everyone has to follow the original blogger and that they share some psychic & telepathic connection.
Now the title is “Underaged drivers in Pakistan reach alarming high”.
Funny. What drugs are they purportedly smoking to reach that high?
Again, use of English without proper understanding.