"Bike Vloggers" Use Modified Bikes Without RTO Permit, Indulge In Rash Driving: Plea In Madras High Court, Notice Issued

The bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Krishnakumar called for a Status Report and ordered a notice to the State returnable by four weeks.

The petitioner, M Vignesh, a lawyer by profession, submitted in his affidavit that the State of Tamil Nadu had seen a humongous increase in the number of rash and negligent driving cases in the past five years. According to the petitioner, one reason for the same is the racing and rash driving culture that has increased in the State where bike riders were doing dangerous stunts on public roads.

The petitioner stated that the Bike-Vloggers were using State and National highways for racing and rash driving instead of special racing tracks specifically allotted for ethical racing. These vloggers then posted the videos on social media for views, likes and other monetary benefits which in turn encouraged youngsters to engage in this activity. This resulted in accidents which also involved pedestrians and other drivers.

The petitioner also submitted that these motor vloggers were using modified bikes without obtaining required permission from the RTO. This altering of the bike's structure would also impact the technical performance of the bike and result in accidents. Further, these bikers were flouting the Supreme Court guidelines on modification of bikes and exhibiting dangerous stunts without any warning.

Since the number of bike vloggers was much fewer at present, the petitioner called for strict action so that it was much easier to get rid of them. Though representations were made to the State, no action had been taken till now. Thus, the petitioner approached court.

Advocate Mohanakrishnan appeared for the petitioner.