A bill to "save lives" by ushering in radical reforms in the motor vehicles law to slap heavy penalty on traffic violators, protecting good samaritans and making vehicle-makers responsible for design defects to cut road accidents, today drew support from all sections of the Lok Sabha.
The basic aim of the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016 is "to save human lives", Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said, adding that a whopping five lakh accidents took place every year claiming around 1.5 lakh lives across the country.
Moving the bill for consideration and passage, Gadkari said it would bring about much-needed reforms in the transport and road sectors through 'maximum governance with minimum government'. It also addresses issues like third party insurance and regulation of taxi aggregators.
Cutting across party lines, members complimented Gadkari for taking the views of all stakeholders in drafting the "comprehensive" bill. However, many of them made suggestions on certain provisions as Congress member K C Venugopal said some of them were "very, very good".
"Even if you are a minister and you violate the traffic rules, a letter (citing a penalty) will come to your home," Gadkari said.
He said around 30 per cent of total licenses across the country were bogus and, under provisions of the new law, a transparent online system for grant of license will be put in place under which everybody will have to undergo certain tests for getting it.
The bill, he said, seeks to make services like issuance of license totally transparent and online and provides for punitive action against officials in case of delay in issuing of the document to eligible applicants.
The proposed legislation also seeks to put in place an automated intelligent traffic management system under which anyone flouting traffic rules will face action.
Under the new system, every one -- from a political leader to a film actor -- will have to go to the license issuing authorities under an uniform procedure and if license is not issued in 3 days, then the RTO will have to face action, he said, adding that a learner's license can be availed online sitting at home.
The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 9, 2016 and then referred to the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, headed by Mukul Roy.
The Motor Vehicle Act was a 30-year-old instrument which has "not kept pace with the change of dynamics of road transport & information technology," he said, adding that it specifically targets traffic offenders with stringent penal provisions. The bill has identified priority areas for improving road safety.
Stricter penalties have been proposed for high risk offences such as drunken driving, dangerous driving, overloading and non-adherence to safety norms by drivers like not using seat belts or helmets.
Gadkari said the process for registration of vehicles will be made transparent and people will be able to access various transport-related documents online.
"If police stops you and asks for documents, you will be able to access them using your phone. It will be very convenient," the Minister said.
Expressing serious concern over the burgeoning road fatalities, Gadkari said the government has identified 786 black spots across the country and will spend Rs 11,000 crore on them to curtail accidents.
Asking the MPs to resolve to ensure that no road accident takes place in their constituencies, Gadkari said there will be a committee headed by local MP in each district of the country to recommend measures for road safety.
The minister said the government will set up a National Road Safety board and the states have been told to incorporate chapters in the curriculum on road safety and added that changes were also being brought about for insurance sector.
"At present, there is no fear for traffic law and it is not a good sign. We have made the law studying traffic laws in the US and some other countries," he said.
Talking about loopholes in the existing licensing system, he said "India is a country, where it is easiest in the world to get a licesnse" and the new law will address these issues.
Participating in the debate, Congress member K C Venugopal called some of the provisions of the bill "very very good" and said all the roads in the country should be brought under the new law.
He also suggested incorporation of certain provisions in the bill like ensuring parking space for heavy vehicles and to bring doctors and nurses to treat accident victims under the ambit of good samaritan.
Tathagata Satpathy (BJD) suggested that traffic signage
across the country should be equalised and should be in same font, colour, shape and size.
He said if people who do not wear helmet while driving bikes should be let free as they should themselves care for their life and if they do not, then they should be left to die as there is a lot of population in the country.
He demanded that government should enact stringent measures for drunken driving and driving contra-traffic by impounding the vehicle and auctioning it off. Also, the licence of the driver should be withdrawn.
Satpathy wanted that wherever the vehicle might be registered, there should be 'one country, one number' policy.
Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena) praised the Minister for bringing a holistic bill which covered all points, while Varaprasad Rao (YSR Cong) said while linking vehicle registration with Aadhaar was a good step, but linking it with driving licence can lead to inconvenience.
Kirron Kher (BJP) drew strong objections to Satpathy's remark. She said "saying that helmets should be done away with is an obnoxious statement to make and should be expunged".
She praised the Road Transport Minister for providing for in the bill for protection of good samaritans -- who take accident victims to hospitals.
Referring to certain court orders including the Supreme Court ruling banning liquor shops within 500 metres of highways, Meenakshi Lekhi (BJP) said while drunken driving is not an excuse, passengers in a vehicle can be drunk.
Such a ban is going to affect the economy as well as livelihood of many people, she said, adding that though she does not support alcohol consumption, "I have an opinion" and the order seems bit odd.
Further, the BJP member, who is also a lawyer, touched upon the Supreme Court ruling that bars the sale of certain vehicles from April 1 and noted that banning already manufactured vehicles is "injustice". She also mentioned recent accidents involving BMW and Lamborghini cars in the national capital which had claimed some lives.
Lekhi spoke about another recent order calling for farm loan waiver and said the government, the MPs, courts, the executive and the media have their own jobs to do, as she referred to instances of certain court orders.
Kaushalendra Kumar (JD-U) said there has been a decline in road accidents in Bihar since imposition of ban on liquor.
Pusphendra Singh Chandel (BJP) suggested that there should be some kind of mechanism like airbags on the bumpers of vehicles. In case a vehicle hits a pedestrain, the latter would not badly hurt with such a mechanism, he added.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Cong) said road design should be properly taken care of and stressed the need for having more trauma centres. The count of deaths in road accidents was much more than in terrorist attacks, he added.
Shushil Kumar Singh (BJP) suggested that the government should consider collecting premium for third-party insurance at the time when vehicle is sold, as done in case of road tax.
This will save poor farmers and other economically weaker section from paying hefty compensation in case of death of third party due to accident, he said.
In order to check the menace of overloading, not only the owner of the vehicle should be held responsible but the administration of the area from where vehicle ply should be made accountable, he said.
Gopal Shetty (BJP) pointed out that many vehicles have gone out of road due to recent Supreme Court order. There was increasing incidence of courts "over-reaching the executive area," he said.
BJP members Om Birla and Jayshreeben Patel, Dharamvir Gandhi (AAP) and Siraj Uddin Ajmal (AIUDF) also partcipated in the debate which remained inconclusive.
