New Road Safety Bill Proposes Far Stricter Penalties For Offenders

The Government of our country is working to introduce a new Road Safety Bill. This new bill will endeavor to make the roads a safer place by implementing some very strict rules. For instance, car makers will have to ensure good safety standards in their cars as failing to pass the safety crash tests can result in a penalty of up to Rs 100 crore. Not just that, automakers will also have to issue a compulsory recall for faulty design and absence of required safety features in the cars.

The strictness is not only limited to manufacturers as the new rules will also stop the use of aftermarket car accessories like fog lights, extra lights, roof-top carriers, pressure horns and metallic bumper protectors. Use of such articles on vehicles will impose a fine of up to Rs 5,000 on the owners. The panel of this new bill is led by Rajasthan’s Transport Minister, Yunoos Khan. It agreed to impose strict and severe penalties on offences like driving by minors, crossing speed limits, drunk driving, talking over phone while driving and jumping traffic lights. Also, the panel has recommended jail term of up to a year in addition to a penalty of Rs 10,000 for those driving with fake licenses. The current penalty for driving with fake licenses stands at a fine of Rs 500 and a maximum jail term of three months. In case of juvenile drivers, the registered owner of the vehicle or the juvenile’s guardian will face up to three years in jail and fine of up to Rs 20,000. Their vehicle registration certificate could also be cancelled.

The government has also instructed automakers to provide safety features like airbags, Antilock Braking System (ABS) and high speed warning systems as standard equipment in all cars from October 2018. The road safety bill was unable to get ratified in the Parliament session and now is being overseen by a group of Ministers (GoM) to reach a conclusion on these strict traffic norms. These strict penalties and reforms will certainly improve the road transport condition in the country. As we saw in the previous weeks, many popular Indian cars failed the Global NCAP crash test and scored a zero star rating. This depicts the worrying condition of mass selling cars in the country, something that needs to be improved urgently.

Also Read: Automakers Respond To Global NCAP Crash Test Results

Source: ET Auto