AGENCIES
NEW DELHI
Motorists breaking traffic rules will have to think twice from today as amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act passed by the Parliament recently come into effect from September 1, multiplying the penalties for traffic violations. This is the first significant amendment of the Act in three decades.
The penalty for not wearing a helmet has been increased to Rs 1,000 and repeat offences could cost a rider the licence. Failure to allow free passage to emergency vehicles attracts a six-month jail term or a Rs 10,000 jail term or both. Not wearing a seat belt will cost Rs 1,000.
In case of drunken driving, imprisonment up to 6 months and/or a fine of up to Rs 10,000 in case of first time offense. For the second offense, there will be a prison term of up to 2 years and/or a fine of Rs 15,000 will be levied.
Driving an uninsured vehicle can also land you in jail. According the new Motor Vehicles Act, you can be penalised an amount of Rs 2,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 3 months for the first time you are caught driving an uninsured vehicle.
For the second offense, a fine of Rs 4,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 3 months.
You will have to pay penalty of Rs 5,000 in case you are caught driving without licence. The penalty in these cases has been enhanced by 10 times. Previously, the penalty for driving without licence was Rs 500.
Additionally, new penalties have been introduced in case of violation of road regulations. The new penalty can be between Rs 500 and 1000.Stricter penalty laws will become applicable in case of dangerous driving. First time offenders will face imprisonment of six months to one year and/or fine of between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000. For the second offence, the offender will be imprisoned for up to 2 years and/or will have to pay a fine of up to Rs 10,000.
Traffic experts say that increasing penalties might create awareness among motorists and force them to follow the rules. Besides, the penalties were set in the 1980-levels and needed an upgrade to keep up with the inflationary
trends.
“The fine for not wearing for helmet is Rs 100 currently. People will think that rather than paying a Rs 1,000 fine it is better to buy a helmet which costs the same amount of money,” said Vinod K Kanumala, chief functionary of the Indian Federation of Road Safety and member of the World Health Organisation Legal Development Programme.
The MV Act 2019 includes features like the Good Samaritan law which insulates those who help accident victims from the legal process and suggests the creation of a motor vehicles accident fund, national register for driving licences and a national road safety board.
It is being hailed as one of the best such laws in the world but there are still certain lacunae that ought to have been fixed.
An NGO that works on road safety, said the fines should be used fairly to reform errant drivers as over 90 per cent of accidents were caused by driver error.
Hyderabad-based traffic activist Kiran Kumar Goli said the new Act did not appear to consider drunk driving, speeding or dangerous driving as important a violation as not wearing a helmet, which entails revocation of the driving licence.
He said the traffic police should crack down on errant drivers.
“Daily we see a large number of motorists driving in the wrong direction but the authorities watch it silently. If the violators are not caught, how will the new fines help,” he asked.
Over-speeding: Rs 1000 to Rs 4000
Driving without insurance: Rs 2000 to Rs 4000 and/or imprisonment
Driving without helmet: Rs 1000+3 months license suspension
Under-age driving: Up to Rs 25,000 and 3-year imprisonment
Driving despite disqualification: Rs 10,000
Dangerous driving:
Rs 5000
Drunken driving:
Rs 10,000
Driving without seat belts: Rs 1000
