The Motor Vehicles Department has rolled out a slew of trolls to dissuade motorists from traffic rule violations.
One can see a viral video of a teenaged motorist being bathed in foamy water by his pillion while he is riding full throttle through roads in North Paravur, following which the MVD suspends his driving licence.
A scene from a police station in the movie Action Hero Biju, which has reference to two women complaining of a man in their neighbourhood bathing in the open, has been attached to the video as a troll.
Then there is one in which a woman vlogger is seen exhorting the driver of a lorry following her car to repeatedly honk a banned polyphonic airhorn. It goes on to show how MVD personnel trace the lorry and the vlogger, after which the horn is taken off the lorry. It ends with the vlogger exhorting viewers not to retrofit such horns that annoy others and cause noise pollution.
The MVD’s media cell stepped up its social media trolls from mid-2020, even though road safety awareness content used to be frequently uploaded on its Facebook page.
“Such aspects that have a direct bearing on the safety of road users must ideally be included in the school curriculum in a way that appeals to students and youth,” says Dileep Kumar K.G., a Motor Vehicle Inspector at the Kondotty RTO office and a member of the MVD’s media cell.
“This is especially true since many youth flaunt their vehicle as a fashion statement or a status symbol than as a mode of commute and often engage in rule violations to steal the limelight after posting them on social media. That a few popular social media influencers convey wrong messages on risky driving and vehicles have added to the malaise, despite Kerala recording the fourth highest number of road accidents in the country,” he says.
Yet another member of the MVD media cell Najeeb K.M. says the department’s Instagram page has nearly a lakh followers, FB page six lakh followers, while viewers on YouTube are increasing by the day. “This could be because trolls related to vehicles appeal to almost everyone,” he says.
The department, which is short staffed, has been demanding a dedicated team to manage its social media pages.
