Proposal of 10 Yrs Jail For Running Over People While Driving Drunk

Panel seeks to hammer in traffic sense

GETTING TOUGH

• Maximum prison term for death by rash and negligent driving to be enhanced from 2 years at present to 10 years
• Cameras to be fitted at strategic positions on roads to help cops nab culprits who speed away after running over people
• No speed breakers or hoardings on highways to ensure smooth traffic
• All city transport buses will have to be fitted with speed governors
• Each city transport bus to be insured to enable victim’s kin to get compensation early

Finally, there is a serious effort to discipline our traffic. The Law Commission has prepared a report on traffic discipline that sets down stringent penalties and exacting norms to straighten out India’s notoriously indisciplined roads.

The Commission report has recommended a crackdown on drunken, rash and negligent driving by proposing that the maximum jail term for death caused by drunk or rash driving should be enhanced from two to 10 years. If the proposal is accepted, drunken or careless driving may become as much of a no-no in India as it is in the West.

While this is possibly the most dramatic recommendation made by the commission, headed by Justice A R Lakshmanan, there are a number of others that aim to make public transport more secure, heighten surveillance on roads, discourage distractions to drivers like cellphones or giant hoardings, and, generally speaking, minimise risks to public safety.

Among the other recommendations are positioning cameras on all major intersections and arterial roads in cities, doing away with speed breakers and hoardings on highways, intensive patrolling to deter drunken driving and use of mobiles while driving, and mandatory speed governors in city buses.

“I am giving the final touches to the recommendations which would address a lot of questions being asked by public about the leniency in legal provisions on rash and negligent driving,” Justice Lakshmanan told TOI.

By pitching for a zero tolerance regime against rash, negligent or drunk driving, the commission has effectively sought to transform the nature of the offences — from a minor infringement to a serious crime and a huge risk to public safety.

At present, in a majority of rash or drunken driving cases, the offender is booked by the police under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code. The provision says: “Whoever causes the death of any person by doing a rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide (murder), shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years or with fine, or both.”

With thanks from The Times of India 11 June 2008 P. 1 Delhi

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