India has one of the highest numbers of road accidents around the world. One of the major reasons for the same is motorists driving on the wrong side of the road. Be it inside the city or out on the highway, we often see cars, two-wheelers and sometimes even heavy commercial vehicles blatantly ignoring this basic traffic rule and putting their as well as the lives of other road users at risk. According to a recent report published in Telangana Today, 6 bikers, who were caught driving on the wrong side of the road by the traffic police, in different instances, were sentenced a two-day jail term by the XIV Special Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Secunderabad.
These offenders were caught by the Bowenpally Police at different locations under their jurisdiction. Anjani Kumar, City Police Commissioner said that this was the first time that riders caught violating the wrong side driving rule were sentenced to imprisonment in the city. After several instances of wrong side driving leading to fatal accidents in the city, the police is viewing such incidents seriously. He further added that the Law and Order police too were assisting the Traffic police in cracking down on such violations.
In other news, the Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill 2019 was recently passed in the Lok Sabha. The same imposes strict penalties for traffic violations. The same has been done in order to ensure the safety of road users in India and bring down the accident cases and the resulting deaths. In the list of revised penalties, includes an increase in the fine for drunk driving from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000. Similarly, road users who are found not giving way to emergency vehicles will attract a fine of Rs 10,000. Driving without a valid licence will attract a fine of Rs 5,000. While driving without a seat-belt is now going to call for a fine of Rs 1,000.
Though the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has said that it is up to the states whether they decide to implement the said changes or not, we hope that they do and the same help in bringing down the number of road accidents in our country and consequently make our roads a safer than what they are.
Source: Telangana Today
