Amid a rise in the road accidents, the state government recently modified the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act and made some offences non-compoundable, which means that the offenders may have to appear before court.
Now, driving on the wrong side of the road, lane cutting or overtaking may no longer end with a simple payment of fine. Previously, such offences attracted a paltry fine of INR 200.
This comes as the number of road crashes and constant complaints of wrong side driving and lane cutting.
Another significant modification in the Amendment Act is that the minimum fines for traffic offences is now INR 500 (from the previous INR 200) for a first-time offender and at least INR 1500 for a second-time offender.
In a heart-wrenching incident that came to light on December 16 where a five-month-old baby boy lost his life in an accident in Mumbai’s Goregaon area. According to reports, a drunk driver was driving his car on the wrong side of the road and hit a motorcycle in which the five-month-old Arfan was travelling with his parents.
However, the drunk driver was let out on bail by a court the very next day. This led to raising concerns over the system of justice that exists in motor accident cases.
As per accounts, over 47,500 motorists were challaned for driving in the wrong direction between January and August 2021, which is more than those challaned throughout 2020 (around 31,000 challans). But only 14 per cent offenders paid up the fines this year.
Read More: Maharashtra: In 2 Days Traffic Police Collects Fines Worth INR 4.51 crores
Moreover, a data analysis report released by the Mumbai police, 42 per cent of all the 338 fatal crashes last year in Mumbai were hit-and-run cases, state reports. The report also showed that every victim of a fatal hit-and-run accident were majorly pedestrian and motorcyclists.
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