Riding a motorcycle is literally balancing yourself on an extremely hot chunk of metal with a tank of highly inflammable liquid between your legs, all on two wheels; quite dangerous. To make things more interesting we are constantly surprised with near-death experiences; courtesy of some hooligan with a twist-happy wrist. With a 900 per cent increase in some fines, the new numbers should help keep the hooligans in check and prevent them from making a nuisance of themselves on the roads.
Some of the salient features of the bill are :
- Aadhaar is now mandatory for driving licences and vehicle registration.
- Alterations have to be made to make vehicles more accessible for differently-abled people.
- The inclusion of a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund mandates the coverage of insurance for all motorists in certain types of accidents.
- Enables the government to impose a multiplier on certain fines. These multipliers cannot be less than one or more than ten.
- Contractors, civic agencies and consultants will be held responsible in the event of an accident caused due to poor roads.
- The time for applying for compensation related to road accidents has been limited to six months.
The new fine structure is as follows:
|
Offence |
Old Fine (Rupees) |
New Fine (approx.) (Rs) |
|
Driving/riding without license |
500 |
5,000 |
|
Speeding |
400 |
1,000 |
|
Dangerous driving/riding |
1,000 |
Up to 5,000 |
|
Overloading two-wheelers |
100 |
2,000 |
|
Not giving way for emergency vehicles |
NA |
10,000 |
|
Driving without insurance |
1,000 |
2,000 |
Will this stop people falling off motorcycles? Maybe not. However, it will prevent a lot of unfortunate incidents if enforced strictly.
