Road safety plays a vital role in maintaining peace and public health in the society. Becoming a responsible driver is one of the most crucial and challenging tasks that a citizen can probably take up. Thousands of lives are lost on roads every day. These include gross negligence on the drivers’ part, reckless driving, drunken driving, and the list goes on. The basis of all this is the flexibility of road safety rules, lack of awareness among the citizens as well as necessity to strengthen the concerned laws. The escalating number of fatal accidents that happen on roads is alarming and requires legal interference. As a result, the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act came into force on 1st September 2019 to curb mishaps on roads by mandating higher penalties for traffic offenses.
A number of legal reforms took place before the commencement of this act. The very first legislation in this respect was the “Indian Motor Vehicles Act, 1914”. This act was enacted to coordinate the use of motor vehicles in British India. Progressively, the “Indian Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act” came into force on 2nd September 1920. This was again amended by the “Indian Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act 1924”. With the passage of time and advancements in technology, the outlook of people may change and law becomes inadequate. Subsequently, change becomes a necessity. Eventually, “The Motor Vehicle Act, 1939” came into effect and was amended in the year 1956. In the year 1988, it was replaced by a new act named “The Motor Vehicles Act 1988”. Various features like change in automobile technology, change in taste and preferences of people, financial status of the country, road safety measures and existing conditions of roads were taken into consideration. The act was further amended in 1994, 2000 and 2001.
The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides better provisions to many issues which were not addressed earlier. M. K. Kunhimohammed v. P. A. Ahmedkutty was the case that created a turning point in motor vehicle act. Important provisions of the act include-
· Detailed explanations of previous definitions and addition of certain new definitions regarding new types of vehicles.
· Provisions for system of registration marks (updated).
· Validity period of driving license and stricter rules for granting driving license.
· Maintenance of a proper register for vehicle renewal and driving license in the state.
· Specifications for the segments of motor vehicles.
· Raised compensation for “no fault liability” and “hit and run” cases.
· Pollution control devices.
· Administration of solatium scheme by general Insurance Corporation.
· Provisions for declaration of fitness certificate of vehicles.
· Liberalized schemes for national permits, all-India tourist permits and stage carriage permit.
· Serious punishments for traffic offenses.
· Compensation irrespective of the grade of vehicles.
The amended Act focussed on three aspects: fines and penalties, pollution free roads and convenience.
· Section 181- Driving without license- penalty rose to Rs 5,000.
· Section 182- New penalty is Rs 10,000 for driving despite disqualification.
· Section 183- over speeding- 1000 to 2000 for light motor vehicles and 2000- 4000 for medium passenger vehicles.
· Section 184- Dangerous driving- imprisonment of 6months to 1year and/or penalty of 1000-5000 for first offence and imprisonment up to 2years and/or fine up to 10,000 for second offence.
· Section 185- Drunken driving- Imprisonment up to 6 months and/or fine up to Rs 10,000 for first offence. Imprisonment up to 2 years and/or fine of Rs 15,000 for second offence.
· Section 189- Racing- Imprisonment of up to 1 month and/or fine up to Rs 500 for first offence. Imprisonment up to 1month and/or fine up to Rs 10,000 for second offence.
· Section 194A- Overloading- penalty is Rs 1000 per extra passenger.
· Section 194B- Driving without seatbelt- Rs 1000 fine.
· Section 194C- Overloading two-wheeler- Rs 2000 penalty and disqualification of the offender’s license for 3 months.
· Section 194D- Driving without helmet License disqualification for 3months and Rs 2000 fine.
· Section 194E- Rs 10000 fine for not giving way to emergency vehicles.
· Section 196- Driving without insurance-Rs 1,000-2,000 and/or punishment up to 3 months for first offence. Rs 4000 and/or imprisonment up to 3 months for second offence
· Section 198- Failure to adhere to the construction, road design and maintenance- compensation up to Rs 1 lakh.
· Section 199- offences by juveniles- Guardian/vehicle owner deemed guilty - Rs 25,000 with 3 years’ imprisonment. Vehicle registration cancelled for 12 months.
· Section 210B- offenses committed by enforcing agencies- double of the original fine.
Pollution free roads were the next area of focus of the amendment. Act provides that central government can urge the manufacturing companies to insert emission control equipment in vehicles for reducing the smoke released on roads. Regional transport authorities are supposed to keep a check on overcrowding issues that frequently take place on roads. In addition, processes such as changing address in driving license and renewal are made easier by organising online methods.
The direct reaction to the amended motor vehicle act was a sense of “anxiety”. It is indeed true that any traffic error committed can cost a huge part of your monthly budget. This fear of a gross monetary loss will be imprinted on every driver’s mind. A part of the society may also have an opinion that the penalties are abnormally high and can add burden to the common man. States like Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan showed their reluctance to implementing the amended act. One may accept it positively, and the other might criticize it.
With the passage of time, the change may prove itself to be a boon. The amendments made to Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 has definitely a long way to go. Although, the intention behind the amendment was public health and road safety, it can have certain demerits too, i.e., corruption. Therefore, in order to make this new step a success, it is essential that authorities and citizens abstain from corruptive practices and practise the law in the way it was intended to be practised.
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