Hyderabad: A 17-year-old boy driving a rented car allegedly lost control, rammed into seven parked motorcycles and knocked down two people, killing a 60-year-old man and leaving another critically injured near Karmik Nagar in Yousufguda on Sunday. It was the latest in a string of fatal crashes involving underage drivers in Telangana, once again raising questions over why such incidents continue unabated despite stringent laws, criminal liability for parents and repeated enforcement drives.The numbers suggest that the problem has only worsened. The Hyderabad commissionerate registered 3,283 cases of underage driving in 2024, but the figure more than doubled to 7,808 in 2025. The trend has continued this year, with 2,539 cases booked between Jan and May alone. Across the Cyberabad and Rachakonda commissionerates, authorities registered more than 1,500 cases every month in 2025, indicating that underage driving remains widespread despite sustained enforcement.Police have shifted from issuing traffic challans to registering criminal cases under Section 199A of the Motor Vehicles Act, under which both the minor and the parent or vehicle owner are prosecuted. According to data presented by joint commissioner of police (traffic) Joel Davis at a recent road safety meeting, police filed 2,539 chargesheets during the first five months of 2026. However, only 26 parents were convicted and sentenced to one to two days’ of imprisonment between April and May, while others were fined up to Rs 25,000.‘Continuous Enforcement’Road safety expert Samineni Dheerendra said underage driving is no longer merely a traffic violation but a social issue involving parents, schools and enforcement agencies. “The law is stringent, but enforcement alone cannot solve the problem. Parents must stop normalising underage driving, while police and transport officials should conduct continuous enforcement around schools, colleges and residential colonies. Road safety education should become part of school life. Unless parents, schools and enforcement agencies work together, innocent lives will continue to be lost,” he said.Road safety expert Vinod Kanumala said weak implementation and social attitudes continue to undermine the law. “We have adequate legal provisions, but implementation needs to become much stronger. In many families, both parents are working or running businesses, so they buy motorcycles or cars for their children to travel conveniently even though they know they are minors and do not have driving licences. I have personally come across several cases where parents told me their children threatened to run away from home or even commit suicide if they refused to buy them a vehicle. Parents should not succumb to such pressure because the consequences can be far more serious,” he told TOI.Kanumala said responsibility rests equally with parents and enforcement agencies. “Police and transport officials have to ensure sustained enforcement, but parents are the first line of responsibility. Unless they stop handing over vehicle keys to minors, the problem will continue. At the same time, the punishment needs to be more stringent. The existing fines and penalties are clearly not acting as a sufficient deterrent. Increasing the quantum of fines and making punishment more severe would make parents think twice before allowing their children to drive,” he said.Suspension of RCsApart from prosecuting parents, authorities have also stepped up action against vehicles. Hyderabad traffic and transport authorities have seized and suspended the registration certificates (RCs) of 719 vehicles this year so far after they were found being driven by minors. Across Telangana, the transport department suspended 4,070 vehicle registrations during the previous financial year for the same offence.Under Section 199A of the Motor Vehicles Act, parents or vehicle owners permitting a minor to drive face a fine of Rs 25,000 and imprisonment of up to three years. The vehicle’s RC is suspended for 12 months, while the minor is barred from obtaining a driving licence until attaining the age of 25. The law allows only adolescents aged 16 to 18 to ride gearless two-wheelers with an engine capacity not exceeding 50 cc, subject to prescribed conditions.Hyderabad joint transport commissioner Dr K Venkata Ramana said restoration of a suspended RC is not automatic. “After the 12-month suspension period, we verify whether the vehicle was used during the suspension period, whether any challans were issued, whether it was involved in any other offences, and examine court orders and police reports. Only after a comprehensive scrutiny is a decision taken on restoring the vehicle’s registration,” he said.Experts said the latest Karmik Nagar tragedy underlines that the challenge is no longer about booking more cases but about preventing minors from accessing vehicles in the first place. As long as parents continue to hand over vehicles, convictions remain limited and the fear of punishment remains low, they warn, underage driving is likely to remain a recurring threat on Hyderabad’s roads.
