NEW DELHI, Sept 2:
The Government will ensure that the new Motor Vehicles Bill is passed in the next session of Parliament, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said today.
“We will not just introduce the Bill but would ensure that it is passed in the Winter Session itself,” Gadkari told on the sidelines of an event.
He said his ministry has already done much work on the new Bill that would overhaul the current obsolete law and usher in such a system which would make country’s roads much safer with strict adherence to safety norms.
At present the sector is governed by the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 and several of its provisions including those related to penalties for violations, have not been found to be effective in checking road accidents. The last time the Act was amended was in 2001.
As per the new draft Bill repeated violations of traffic rules will result in cancellation of driving license.
Gadkari said once the new laws are implemented, they will drastically reduce the number of road deaths.
India accounts for about 1.4 lakh road accidents annually which is more than 10 per cent of the total road fatalities across the world. The total social cost of these accidents is estimated to be around Rs 1 lakh crore.
The new bill is likely to include measures such as installing CCTV cameras at all traffic signals and centralising data to check misuse of driving licences.
The Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, will be in sync with practises in six advanced nations – US, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom – Gadkari said, adding that it will adopt international best practices. (PTI)
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