Mental health certificate for driving licence?

With road rage incidents becoming frequent in metropolitan cities including Bengaluru a senior police officer has appealed to the people to show restraint and to call the authorities instead of taking law into their handsA prominent psychologist in Bengaluru has suggested that a mental health certificate should be made necessary while issuing driving licenceThe appeal came after two horrific incidents of road rage in a span of four days in Bengaluru In one incident a young biker dragged a septuagenarian for almost a kilometre on January 17 and in the second a man was dragged on the bonnet of a car for over a kilometre on January 20In New Delhi too a man was dragged on the bonnet of a car this month Delhi police said they arrested the accused and booked him under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code Last year in November a pharmacy owner was beaten up black and blue after his car brushed against a motorcycle in DelhiPointing out that the two recent cases in the city had gone to extreme levels because of road rage Bengaluru Special Commissioner of Police Traffic M A Saleem told PTI that people get into fights after accidents which lead to heated exchange of words and then violencePolice in Bengaluru city deal with such cases very severely and register cases against culprits involved he addedReferring to the two cases that turned the focus on Bengaluru Saleem said ldquoThese two cases are totally uncivilised I can say these are heinous cases wherein attempt to murder cases have been taken up by the police and stringent action has been taken against the people who even assaulted the motoristsrdquoSaleem also urged people to call police whenever they spot a possibility of trouble emerging on the roadHowever noted citybased psychologist Dr Geetha Appachu who is the head of Swapreran a psychological counselling and wellness clinic said the problem lies with issuing driving licence as a small precaution regarding mental health of those applying for the licence would make people more comfortable while commuting on the roadThe road rage issue according to her could be related to displaced and pentup anger surfacing on the road where people tend to feel like yelling at fellow commuters or pedestriansDr Appachu felt there was a need to understand the underlying personality issues which can be easily doneldquoThere are simple tests available which can be done in order to not just understand somebodyrsquos driving skillYes there is so much checking happening even for a driverrsquos licence But then can we also bracket in a few more precautions that am I in normal healthy mental state too That will make us more comfortable on the road as well as everywhererdquo the psychologist saidAccording to her this will be one of the best ways to support youngsters who apply for licence after turning 18 ldquoToday itrsquos not about affording a vehicle Itrsquos about driverrsquos licence coming with responsibilityrdquo Dr Appachu said20 JanDay a man was dragged on car bonnetThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever