Around 1.38 lakh people are killed in road accidents every year, the total social cost of which is estimated to be around Rs.100,000 crore. Several provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988, especially those pertaining to penalties for violations, have not been found to be effective in checking road accidents. The last time the Act was amended was in 2001.
The amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act seeks to address critical gaps in traffic violation and stricter rules in the next session of Parliament. In order to get a feedback from the public on the rules suggested for including in the Act, the city unit of BJP and members of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) conducted a public programme at R.K. Beach on Sunday morning.
Several morning walkers filled up the opinion form to give their views on the proposed amendments. Some of these amendments include eligibility of licence of two-wheelers based on cc of vehicle and age of person. For instance, license to drive a 120 cc to 180 cc vehicle can be given only after the age of 22 years. All licences should have a bar coded magnetic strip and if anyone violates the road rules more than five times, his driving licence should be suspended for six months and if he continues to violate after that, then the driving licence should be cancelled.
“So far we have gathered over 200 feedback forms. This will be a ward-level activity and the exercise will conclude on September 17 on the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The city unit will compile all the suggestions and send it to the Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on that day,” said Dr. Suresh Somayajula, a member of BJYM.
The Union Transport Minister had stated that the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill is being prepared in sync with practises in six advanced nations -- - the US, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany and Britain and will be introduced in the next session of Parliament.
