With a sense of jubilation, the government announced the steep rise in penalties and fines related to road safety, making it many times than the existing penalties. The hope was the high deterrent fines will reduce the fatalities due to road accidents. From day one, I was apprehensive of the implementation of the new amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act.
It may not be an exaggeration to state that a nation is known from the discipline of its drivers. The Road Transport minister, Nitin Gadkari mentioned that one would not be fined if the rules are followed. I am touched by the generous and graceful gesture of the minister.
The automobile industry is reeling under a low demand with sales down by nearly 40 %, and in case of trucks, it could be as much as 70%. I posted promptly that it was a wrong move to impose steep fines at this juncture, which would further depress the sales of vehicles. Soon the troll brigade of the government went into a bullish charge, copying my post to satiate the ravenous guys wanting to chew you off.
I have two drivers, and I drive much as well. The travails of a driver are known only to another driver and not to others. Roads are shrinking fast in metros. In some cities like Kolkata, it is barely 7%, but more and more vehicles are being added to the streets every day. Besides, the political union-backed autos have their right of any zig-zag way and can take u-turn shocking you and nearly killing you. No, the fines cannot be levied on them, as they can paralyze the city in no time.
Roads are a big scam, as nowhere in any developed country roads, which reveal all their inner organs, steel rods etc. after every monsoon. You cannot fine them as the perpetrators are the government themselves. Many unsuspecting two-wheelers die, knocked off into the potholes.
I will not complain about the hapless walkers, whose right of footpaths have been cashed by the political parties, selling them to hawkers. Used to walking on the roads, they walk wherever and, however. The signals do not matter, as they expect the vehicles to respond promptly at their stop signs. Touch them, and swiftly a class struggle starts. It’s those old perpetual wars between the proletariat and the bourgeoise kind.
The police are stressed to collect more fines and are given a monthly target. Therefore, even if you have drunk only a Pepsi, the breathalyzer could call it arrack and the grin of the cop will explain the only exit route. The worst trauma for any motorist is, “come to the police station,’ by a traffic cop. Vehicles detained outside the police stations are fit only for scrapping.
The last but not the least trauma of every motorist is concerning parking, fleeced by the parking mafias run under political patronage if one gets a parking space at all. Any oversight and your cars are ‘clamped,’ or even worse, towed away most disgustingly.
Gone are the days when owning a car was a prestigious matter. People own cars only because of poor public transport. The App-cabs have mitigated the plight of commuters, but again the surge pricing is a bother.
Fines are fine but make driving tolerable. Let the government make suitable parking spaces in crowded places. Make roads available for safe driving and let not penalties become a source of increased income for the cops or the government.
For those who differ with me, please do not bother to respond, but wait for six months and watch if the steep fines have reduced the rate of accidents. Driving etiquette is a matter of mind and culture!
There is a fine for spitting, Rs.500/- in most states, and I need not explain the rate of success.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
