New Motor Vehicle Act : Will it help in decreasing daily Traffic Violation?
The 2018 report of the World Health Organization, the highest number of road accidents occurs in India worldwide. So in order to prevent the menace of road accidents; the central government has amended the Motor Vehicle 1988 by the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2019. The amendment has simply increased the fines for traffic violation. The sky high traffic violation fines have given road safety the much needed limelight, but is it for the good or will it result in increasing even more trouble for people on the road?
Amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act aims at ensuring better road safety and was put in to effect from 1 September 2019. Driving offences will result to high challans and even imprisonment in some cases. Every bill passed comes with it’s pros and cons for the citizens on the country. While one will be more careful on the road to avoid the heavy fines, there will be a side which will find more ways to flee from the charges of the violation.
Why new Rules are Necessary?
The lack of discipline attached with traffic rules is a compelling factor for the government to take an action in order to bring such a crucial issue under the notice of the citizens of the country. The path chosen by the decision makers might prove to be a little alarming for the people belonging to lower economic backgrounds because of the substantial amount charged. The fine imposed for the violation could at times surpass the net income of the household. Statistically, according to the 2011 census 21.9% of the people in India live below the poverty line, a huge percentage of the population is middle class. Can the justification of the high traffic rules be made in accordance with the economical background of the nation? Living in a capitalist democracy the new bills passed should be more in adherence to the countrymen and their socio-economic status.
How will it Help Change Current Scenario?
The prime issue of road safety is very grave indeed. Proper measures, if taken while on road could prevent many accidents which otherwise lead to very calamitous and disastrous outcomes. There are many benefits of Adhering to traffic rules while on the road, easy flow of traffic which saves time, less accidents, easy for people with disabilities to cross the road. We often notice people just wearing their seat-belt in presence of the traffic police and not throughout their journey. The public is saving themselves from the heavy fine but isn’t much careful about their own safety. This carelessness and negligence regarding one’s own safety is what forces a government in making such harsh rules. Road accidents are one of the major reasons for deaths caused in India. Hence, road safety is a very important issue which needs to be addressed by the public.
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Many people from various states have protested against the high fine rates. States like Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telengana, and West Bengal have put a hold on the implementation of the Act. BJP ruled Gujarat government has implemented the new rules with major cut in the fines, almost half of that passed in the parliament.
Outcome
The main question which arises is whether the government needs to impose such heavy fine charges or work on their surveillance system which punishes each traffic violator without burning a hole in their pocket. In many foreign countries there are cameras installed everywhere around the roads to keep a check on the speed, seat-belt, crowd, etc. A more public sensitive measure to fight road safety negligence would have been more acceptable for the people of the country.
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Rashi Sharma