Chandigarh, Nov. 12 -- Last week, a 17-year-old Class 12 student was caught behind the wheel when a car rammed into a bike taxi, killing its 29-year-old rider in Chandigarh. Unfortunately, this was not a one off incident.

So far this year, 63 underage drivers have been issued challans by the traffic police. According to traffic police data, 117 challans were issued to minors in 2023, the highest number in the past five years.

The figure dropped to 72 in 2024, while 34 challans were issued in 2022, when Covid-related movement restrictions were in force.

Traffic police do not issue separate challans in cases where an FIR has been registered, a senior police officer said.

In such cases, issuing a challan is considered double penalisation...