New motor vehicles bill likely to bring relief from Ludhiana traffic chaos, say experts

Despite the traffic police department cracking the whip on violators and making efforts to generate awareness regarding the importance of following the rules, city residents still cock a snook at the rules as a whopping 89,580 challans for violations were issued in the first seven months of the year. The Union cabinet’s decision to approve a steep hike in penalties for traffic violators will go a long way in reducing the high rate of violations in city, feel residents.

On an average, the department issues 400 challans to traffic violators everyday. For wrong parking alone, as many as 32,759 challans were issued from January 1 to July 31. For riding without a helmet, 23,393 challans were issued while for driving without a seat belt, 8,647 were fined followed by 4,473 for driving on the wrong side.

On the brighter side, however, the number of challans for certain offences such as riding without helmet, driving without wearing a seat belt, triple riding, overloading and pollution have seen a dip this year as compared to previous years. However, the numbers of challans for offences such as speeding and driving on the wrong side have increased.

The total fine collected as of now from these challans (from January 1 till July 31) is over ₹4.84 crore.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, traffic) Tarun Rattan said that as the ongoing construction work of elevated roads and bridge is in process at several points in the city, the department is currently focusing on regulating the flow of traffic rather than issuing challans. “But at the same time, we are regularly keeping a tab on speeding vehicles but we have just one speed gun and have written to the headquarters for providing more speed guns,” he said.

Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill,
2019, will bring improvement: Experts

As per the record of the past three years, the total number of challans in Ludhiana district surpasses the 2 lakh figure. While it will take some time for the new fines to be formally implemented (a notification to states from the Centre in this regard is awaited), the bill proposes to substantially raise the minimum penalty for all kinds of offences— ₹10,000 for drunken driving, up from ₹2,000 at present; Rs5,000 for driving without a licence and racing, up from ₹500; ₹5,000 for dangerous driving, up from ₹1,000; ₹1,000 for driving without a seat belt, up from ₹100; ₹2,000 for driving without insurance, up from ₹1,000 at present; and a ₹1,000 fine along with disqualification of licence for three months for riding without a helmet, the fine for which is a paltry ₹100 at present.

Sub-inspector Sukhdev Singh (retd), who has served in the education cell of traffic police department, says that the huge increase in the penalty amount will certainly change the attitude of habitual offenders. “When a violator will be charged ₹5,000 (new fine) instead of ₹500 (old) for driving without license, they will certainly think twice before repeating the offence. But for those violators, who think they can get away by citing their political connections, it will make no difference,” he said while adding that at this stage, the main focus of the department and government should be to generate awareness and sensitise people of new rules.

Rahul Verma, member of the Punjab Road Safety Council, said the move is definitely going to bring a change. “A person who does not purchase a helmet worth Rs300-400 will now start wearing it to avoid the challan of ₹1,000, which was ₹300 earlier. Moreover, the strictness on underage driving will also leave a positive impact because if a juvenile is booked once under the juvenile Act, it becomes difficult for him/her to get the passport if he/she is planning to go abroad for further studies.” He, however, added, “But if we look at the other side, this move may increase corruption. Therefore, there is a need to bring new technology and infrastructure to improve road safety.”