Reel stunt on Chandigarh-Manali Highway costs driver Rs 18,500

Mandi (HP), Jan 29: The Mandi police have fined a person to the tune of Rs 18500 for violating traffic rules and making reels on the Chandigarh-Manali highway near Harabagh in the district.
Performing stunts on the four-lane highway in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, while trying to record a ‘reel’ proved costly. After a video of the stunt on the Chandigarh-Manali four-lane highway at Harabag went viral, Sundernagar police fined the driver Rs 18,500 for violating traffic rules.
Notably, on Wednesday at 1:30 pm, a young man named Aman was driving at high speed from the Sundernagar side towards Bilaspur and took a U-turn on the four-lane highway at Harabag.
Another young man standing nearby was recording a video of him. During this time, vehicles were moving on both sides of the four-lane highway.
Someone recorded this stunt and shared it on social media. The Slapar police post under Sundernagar police station immediately issued a challan (fine) for the vehicle with registration number HP-31-C-5301 and warned the driver against repeating such actions in the future. The video of the car performing a 360-degree turn on the highway is now rapidly going viral on social media.
The Harabag four-lane highway is already considered accident-prone due to high-speed vehicles. Such stunts can not only be fatal for the driver but also seriously endanger the safety of other drivers and pedestrians on the road.
Residents say that incidents of speeding and stunts are frequently seen on this four-lane highway. They have demanded that the administration and traffic police increase patrolling and take strict action against violators through CCTV cameras.
DSP Sundernagar, Bharat Bhushan, said that as soon as the information was received, the police identified the vehicle and took action under the Motor Vehicles Act. He said that strict action will continue to be taken against those who flout traffic rules.
Performing such stunts is not an act of bravery, but rather gross negligence. Young people should follow traffic rules and prioritise their own safety and the safety of others to curb road accidents, he added.
Just three months ago in Mandi, 22-year-old Aniket, a resident of Nagchala, died while making a reel performing stunts on his motorcycle. Now, another similar case of negligence has come to light.