New Motor Vehicle Act brings down Road Mishaps
New Delhi : The new Motor Vehicle Act came into effect from September 01, 2019. According to the new amendments, the fines and penalties imposed on violating traffic safety rules have been made stringent.
The necessity of increasing the penalty rates was due to the rising concern of road fatalities in India. Over 1.5 lakh people lose their lives in road mishaps across the country. As per the Road Safety 2018 Globat Report by WHO, India ranked first in the number of road accident deaths followed by China and the USA.
Our National Highways alone account for an average of 35.7 per cent of road accident deaths annually, while the State Highways account for an average of 26.8 per cent deaths in the country.
Most of these road fatalities are due to people not following the road safety rules when driving. Thus, the government decided to impose hefty penalties and fines for those seen violating the same. This will push people to follow the traffic regulations and further reduce the road fatality rates in India.
It will now be a year since the new Motor Vehicle Act came into effect. Ever since the new regulations have been implemented, there has been a significant decrease in road mishaps. Most importantly, those who often tend to violate the traffic rules have been charged with hefty penalties under the new Motor Vehicle Act of 2019.
Why Should You Care?
As explained earlier, not following the traffic safety rules will burn a hole in your pocket. If you caught not wearing a helmet, the penalty charges have been increased from INR 100 to INR 1000 along with three-month licence disqualification. In case you are not wearing a seatbelt when driving, the penalty is now INR 1000.
Speeding and racing your vehicle will now attract hefty penalty charges of INR 5000, which is increased from INR 500. Drink and driving cases will attract a penalty between INR 2000 and INR 10,000. If you are caught driving with a valid driver’s licence, a penalty of INR 5000 will be imposed.
Apart from increasing the penalty charges, the new Motor Vehicle Act has also imposed stringent laws for imprisonment for extreme cases. Speeding and racing your vehicle now also comes with a three-month prison punishment (with or without the fines). The same can be extended up to a year in case of the second offence.
If children under the age of 18 years are caught driving the vehicle, then the vehicle owner will be held guilty and have to pay a fine of INR 25,000 along with three-year imprisonment. Moreover, the vehicle’s registration will be cancelled for at least a year.
Also, driving without valid two-wheeler insurance is punishable with INR 2000 penalty and/or imprisonment of up to three months for the first offence. For the second/subsequent offence, the penalty to be paid is INR 4000 and/or imprisonment of up to three months.
Over to You!
It goes without saying that we have to follow the traffic safety rules to avoid hefty penalties under the new Motor Vehicle Act of 2019. It is the only way to save your pocket!
