Human Rights of Traffic Cop & Road Users violated by Govt.

The fines & penalties for various traffic offences currently being levied in India were set in 1988.  These are very very low.  See this example below.

Traffic Fines as per Transport Act 1988, India

When petrol price is around Rs70 and inflation is close to 10%, what is the value of Rs100.  No one bothers to follow the rules.  The govt. by not revising these fines is making a mockery of the people and their lives.  And not just the lives of the road users but the lives of the traffic policemen who have to put up with the people, environment and the polluting vehicles all day long.  Most traffic policemen who man busy junctions are given a surgical mask to protect them from the dust & pollution.

The fines should be revised to at least by 10 times the present rates to be effective.  Again once revised, it may not be revised for another 10 years.  So much for Govt. efficiency.  Does 10 times the current rates seems excessive?  Well, this is not mandatory duty.  Once has to pay this only if one commits an offence.  However in our country the very next thing on everyone's mind would be corruption and bribe.  You would be thinking, well this is not going to bring any of those offences down, but only going to increase the "take home" of traffic policemen.  Thinking that these changes will not bear fruit because of corruption and doing nothing is not going to make things any better.  And the whole corruption angle has to be dealt in another blog.

If over-speeding fine were to be say, Rs2000.00 instead of the paltry Rs100.00, would that reduce more than half the accidents due to over-speeding?  I don't know, just taking a wild guess here.  If the fine for carrying goods more than allowed tonnage were say double the cost of the entire goods that is being carried, would most people try to carry goods more than the allowed tonnage.  This may not reduce accidents, but sure will prolong the life of our not to well maintained roads for may be another monsoon.

Also the fines for offenses committed by autos, taxis, buses and other vehicles that carry passengers should be more than the 'normal' fines by a factor.  These vehicles are on the road most of the times.  Some drivers are plain stupid & some just feel too comfortable on the roads and start using them as race tracks.  They need to be reined in too.

Hoping for a change for the better India and its people.

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