“Every accident is a notice that something is wrong with man, method or material”
Road accidents kills more people than total number killed in wars of the country. Nearly 137000 died in 2013 due to road accidents and nearly 400 deaths are reported daily because of the same reason. The country seeks a loss of 3% in the GDP due to these increased number of road accidents.
The Motor Vehicle (Amendments) Act, 2016 which was tabled by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highway on 9th August 2016 is pending in the Parliament as the monsoon session of LokSabha ended on 12th August. The bill may be considered in the winter session. 68 of 233 sections of the act have been amended. The basic goal of this amended act is to bring down the number of deaths and injuries due to road accidents to half.
Following are the features of the MOTOR VEHICLE AMENDMENT ACT, 2016
- Upper Limit of Insurer’s liability: The maximum claim has been ceiled up to Rs. 10 Lakhs in case of death and Rs. 5 Lakhs in case of grievous hurt in road accidents. Under third part claim, the victim could not claim for more amount thanthis from the insurer.
- Compulsory Insurance: A Motor Vehicle Accident fund is to be created consulting the states as per the act and to be managed by special authorities specified by the central government. This could be an insurance cover to all road users in India.
- Good Samaritans to be protected: As per section 134A of the act, any person who in good faith without expecting any award voluntarily comes to rescue the person or provide medical or non medical assistance would not be liable to any civil or criminal offence if his action causes any injury or death to the person. Also, the personal information would be provided only after a specific procedure.
- Lesser corruption/waiting time (e-governance) : There would be lesser chances of corruption and no waiting lines with the introduction of e-governance system. Computerisation of services like issuing licence, registration of vehicle, filling of forms, change in address etc would be provided.
- Recalling Vehicles: If any vehicle is found to harm the driver, the environment or other driver or persons on road, such vehicle would be called off. The manufacturer would either have to compensate for the vehicle or replace the vehicle.
- Cashless treatment in golden hour: Golden Hour here means, the hour just after the severe injury took place when the chance to save the life and give good medical care is the highest. The patient would not be charged anything for treatment during this time period.
- Increase of compensation for death in Hit and Run cases: The compensation amount has increased to Rs. 25 Lakhs from Rs 2 Lakhs as per the central government.
- Responsibilities of the states: The states must make transportation schemes which would take care of increasing road pressure, safety of road users, last mile connectivity, safety of bicycle riders etc.
- Unauthorised use of vehicles by the juveniles: The parents/ guardians would be liable for the same and penalty would be imposed over them.
- Tremendous increase in fines: Increase in the fine imposed is seen as the most debatable point. However, it would ensure compliance of the rules by the road users. The list of increased penalties are as follows:
| Section | Old Provision / Penalty |
New Proposed Provision / Minimum Penalties | |
| 177 | General | Rs. 100 | Rs. 500 |
| 177A | Rules of road regulation violation | Rs. 100 | Rs. 500 |
| 178 | Travel without ticket | Rs. 200 | Rs. 500 |
| 179 | Disobedience of orders of authorities | Rs. 500 | Rs. 200 |
| 180 | Unauthorized use of vehicles without licence | Rs. 1000 | Rs. 5000 |
| 181 | Driving without licence | Rs. 500 | Rs. 5000 |
| 182 | Driving despite disqualification | Rs. 500 | Rs. 10,000 |
| 182 B | Oversize vehicles | New | Rs 5000 Rs 1000 for LMV |
| 183 | Over speeding | Rs. 400 | Rs 2000 for Medium passenger vehicle |
| 184 | Dangerous driving penalty | Rs. 1000 | Upto Rs. 5000 |
| 185 | Drunken driving | Rs. 2000 | Rs. 10,000 |
| 189 | Speeding/Racing | Rs. 500 | Rs. 5000 |
| 192 A | Vehicle without permit | Rs. 5000 | Rs. 10,000 |
| 194 | Overloading | Rs 2000 and Rs 1000 per extra tonne | Rs 20,000 and Rs 2000 per extra tonne |
| 194 A | Overloading of passengers | Rs. 1000 per extra passenger | |
| 194 B | Seatbelts | Rs. 100 | Rs. 1000 |
| 194 C | Overloading of two wheelers | Rs. 100 | Rs 2000, Disqualification for 3 months for licence |
| 194 D | Helmets | Rs.100 | Rs 1000 Disqualification for 3 months for licence |
| 194 E | Not providing way for emergency vehicle | New | Rs. 10,000 |
| 196 | Driving Without Insurance | Rs. 1000 | Rs. 2000 |
| 199 | Offences by juvenile | New | Guardian / owner shall be deemed to be guilty. Rs 25,000 with 3 yrs imprisonment. For Juvenile to be tried under JJ Act. Registration of Motor Vehicle to be cancelled |
| 206 | Power of Officers to impound documents | Suspension of driving licenses u/s 183, 184, 185, 189, 190, 194C, 194D, 194E | |
| 210 B | Offences committed by enforcing authorities | Twice the penalty under the relevant section |
Table source: www.pib.nic.in – Press Information Bureau