2014 Road Safety And Transport Bill: A Brighter Future Ahead
2014 Road Safety And Transport Bill: A Brighter Future Ahead
The 2014 Road Safety and Transport Bill has just been formulated and a lot could change if the Bill becomes an Act. Dramatic revivals are useless if laws are not in place and implemented to protect people. Hopefully, with this new initiative by the Modi government, negligent driving may soon be a thing of the past on Indian roads.
The Bill holds that hefty fines should be placed on the faulting motorist as well as carmakers who do not heed safety precautions. Take faulty manufacturing design into account for one. If the car is built to expose its passengers and drivers to all sorts of risks, then an accident is a disaster which is just waiting to happen.
To avert this, the laws need to be in place so that carmakers do not compromise on design to save cost. For faulty manufacturing design, money to the tune of 5 lakh can be fined as well as cancellation of license for rash driving can result. Apart from this, imprisonment is also being given as a punishment for this offence.
Even those bypassing a red light without so much as a glance will now have to look again. Jumping a red light can cost anywhere from Rs. 5,000 to 15,000 depending upon whether the driver is a repeat offender. Apart from this, there will also be suspension of the driving license for one month for this offence. One of the most common offences in current times is not wearing a seat belt. Well, failure to do so may result in a fine of Rs. 5,000 pas per the bill. For those who are caught speeding, fines of anywhere from Rs.5,000 to Rs. 12,500 will be charged. This is a massive jump from the Rs. 400 to 1000 spectrum earlier allocated for such violations.
Fines will also be levied for talking on the mobile while driving. Another serious traffic offence is drunk driving. This dangerous phenomenon leads to the death of millions on Indian roads each year. What is worse is that this phenomenon, just like global warming, is man-made. So unless precautions are taken, safety cannot be assured and the Bill goes a long way in accomplishing this.
If the Bill becomes a law, drunk drivers will now have to cough up fine of Rs. 15,000 or a jail term of atleast 2 years. School drivers caught drunk driving will be charged a fine of INR 50,000. Motorists committing traffic violations will also be given penalty points so that they do not take it lightly. Following the accumulation of around 12 penalty points, motorists will be suspended for a year from driving. For causing the death of a child on the road, a motorist will be sentenced to 7 years of jail and Rs. 3 lakhs as fine.
Motorists will also be charged Rs. 1 lakh for driving unregistered cars and vehicles, as per the Bill. Hopefully, this Bill will become a law so that the people of India can have access to safer roads and more orderly driving.
