Tougher penalty for traffic offences
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: March 03, 2012 -

Satyajit Usham from the desk

Considering the fact that India holds the dubious distinction of registering the highest number of road accidents and related deaths in the world, it is not surprising that the Union Cabinet has given its green signal to the proposed amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act, which would attract higher penalties upto five times for traffic violations.

According to a recent survey report of National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NTPRC), the number of road accidents in India is three times higher than the prevailing rate in developed countries. It is said that on an average, there is one serious accident every minute and a death every five minutes on the roads of India.

This is despite the fact that India has just 1 percent share of world's motor vehicles. The survey report has also observed that 80 percent of the road fatalities in India are caused by human errors with rash driving, which unfortunately is becoming a 'rage' on the roads today, topping the list.

The proposed amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act is likely to be introduced in the forthcoming Budget session of the Parliament and we have to wait and see its outcome through long process of debate and discussion in both Houses of the Parliament before the proposed new rules see the light of the day.

The new rules would apply across the country including Manipur, if they are approved by the Parliament.

Among other provisions to be incorporated in the amendment, drunk driving, jumping red light, over-speeding and use of mobile phones while driving have attracted higher fine and even jail term for habitual traffic offenders.

In case of drunken driving, the increased fine would range from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000 and imprisonment for six months to four years. For speeding, the fine amount has been increased from the present Rs 400 to Rs 1000 for the first offence and Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 for subsequent offences.

Jumping red light has to cost Rs 500 as against the present Rs 100 and Rs 1000 to Rs 1500 for subsequent offences. Rash or 'dangerous' driving would also become dearer with a fine of Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 and/or imprisonment of 2 years in case of second offence.

Besides increasing the fine for using mobile phones while driving to Rs 500 for the first offence and Rs 2000 to Rs 5000 for subsequent instances, the proposed amendment made it clear that not only talking on phone but sending text messages and using hands free instruments for using mobile phone would be considered an offence.

All these tougher penalties have been proposed to discipline the country's traffic system and deal with traffic offences seriously.

But the moot point here is how these provisions, as and when they are cleared by the Parliament, would be implemented on the roads of Manipur, where traffic violations are increasingly being looked upon as birth right of the offenders as the rule-enforcers are, more often than not, magnanimous enough to let go of the offenders in exchange for some crisp notes.

If the traffic police in Manipur are serious about traffic management, why any students in school uniform would be allowed to zoom around in their fancy mobikes or the loaded trucks given passage after a 'handshake'?

We could only hope that the proposed tougher penalty for traffic offenders does not lead to increase in the frequency of such handshakes.