[JoseVijay]

"Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday promised to come down heavily on violators as he assured that the status of the offender would not come in the way of punishment."

Please see the below link I came across.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome...ter-Munde.html

[gsurya]

Do we need new laws to obey red lights when there is no traffic policeman around? Is there a law needed not to bribe or take bribes?

If both the public & police / RTO employees are disciplined & conscientious we really wouldnt need more laws. U cant regulate basic morality.

More tough laws only increase the bribe rents & agent fees. What is needed is more transparency, use of IT & implementation.

[speedmiester]

A move in the right direction.
Vehicle population and traffic density has increased multiple times over the years and this requires a complete overhaul of Motor Vehicle Law.

[Diesel_convert]

The full statement from the minister himself.

I liked the fact that he focused on under run bars for trucks/ trailers.

They should try and implement a minimum speed limit on the highways like Germany.

The ideas seem to be good, but I hope they don't follow the UK with pointless speed cameras everywhere.

And for things like not using a turn signal when turning, lane discipline I don't know how a camera will help.

They should also look at contactless toll booths to speed up tolls for everyone.

They should also try and raise the speed limit wherever possible.

[anujmishra]

New laws are OK and we welcome the effort by government. But what about the actual enforcers at the ground? Would they actually enforce the law strictly and honestly always.

We need to change from bottom up and government should also make them stakeholders in drafting law. Their style of fuctioning will not change and they will find loopholes in law soon.

[amit]

Seems to me that the government is moving in the wrong direction with the way they want to frame the laws.

The assumption the government is making is that motorists are well aware of the rules but disobey them due to lax implementation. This is where they are getting it wrong. Due to rampant corruption at RTO's, we have released ignorant driver's on our roads, there is no rule of law on the roads today because driver's don't know the rules. Just look at any intersection in any city of India. Everyone squeezes in and creates a jam and this happens everyday! This squeezing in, poking the nose of the car as & when some space opens up is all because no one knows what the rule says.
Let's start with the basics first.

1.) Government needs to plan & design roads scientifically. Safety has to be designed into the roads. Also, remove corruption so that we get pot hole free roads. Does the government know how many accidents happen due to pot holes? We need roads designed according to traffic requirements 20 years hence with footpath's free to hawker's so pedestrians can use them comfortably.
2.) Get various departments to sync while designing infrastructure. When the municipality approves a mall to come up somewhere does the approval include permission from traffic department? We have bank's and shopping plaza's on roads. Where will car's park? Months later traffic guys put up no parking boards & start towing car's. Is it the car owner's fault if the city planning design goofed up?
3.) Improve licence issuing system in RTO's. Instead of importing the penalty points system from developed countries to strengthen law, government should import the license issuing systems & driver training & testing programmes from those countries. I say go a step further and take advice from motor vehicle department's of Germany or Canada to understand how they rigorously test their driver's before giving them the privilege to drive on the roads.

[mayankk]

Like I said, a knee jerk reaction owing to the death of a political figure.
Whatever laws they make, saying amendments are not the way, new ones are the way forward,end of the day, when the cop stopping you is willing to take a tenth of the challan money to look the other way, nothing will help.
You may be willing to introduce points on the licence, but the seasoned veterans will have hundreds of stoppages, and no points.
What is the point of fixing the axle when the chassis is corroded?
They first need to address the bribery system which everybody knows about, but are unwilling to fix.

[AviG]

Good initiative and its about time things are revised and very informative points above on the discussions from members here.

I, for one hope that the blanket ban on sun-films is re-considered with some thought process.

Secondly, carrying documents in electronic format since these days everyone has a smart phone should be allowed provided the cops are equipped with a smart device of their own to cross-verify.

Points above are just in my opinion. Cheerio!

[Diesel_convert]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Like I said, a knee jerk reaction owing to the death of a political figure.
Whatever laws they make, saying amendments are not the way, new ones are the way forward,end of the day, when the cop stopping you is willing to take a tenth of the challan money to look the other way, nothing will help.
You may be willing to introduce points on the licence, but the seasoned veterans will have hundreds of stoppages, and no points.
What is the point of fixing the axle when the chassis is corroded?
They first need to address the bribery system which everybody knows about, but are unwilling to fix.

He clearly mentions he is going to make the entire system IT based.

Including cameras to automatically take pictures and send the ticket home directly.

This surely eliminates the problem of people getting away by bribing cops.

[gsurya]

Originally Posted by Diesel_convert

He clearly mentions he is going to make the entire system IT based.

Including cameras to automatically take pictures and send the ticket home directly.

This surely eliminates the problem of people getting away by bribing cops.

RTO functions under state Govt not Centre. Wonder why this has not been done in any BJP state so far if it was so easy? Even in Baroda where I lived 2 decades one still has to bribe for everything.

Originally Posted by anujmishra

New laws are OK and we welcome the effort by government. But what about the actual enforcers at the ground? Would they actually enforce the law strictly and honestly always.

We need to change from bottom up and government should also make them stakeholders in drafting law. Their style of fuctioning will not change and they will find loopholes in law soon.

Yes, first basic things like license & RC book procedures need to be made simple, transparent & agent/bribe free.

Then look at fancy, expensive solutions like automatic cameras & fining.

As I refused to use an agent or pay a bribe, I have now had to visit RTO 7 times to get my car transferred from Assam to Maharashtra.

[manikjeet]

I would Like to add that stupid Complete Ban on Sun Film should be removed. One PIL and we have a Stupid law

Here in Chandigarh the Temp is about 46'C and without Film its almost impossible to drive a car which has been sitting in the sun for even 30 Mins.

[Servegaar]

I hope they introduce hefty fines like in developed countries. I am fed up of people driving on the wrong side of the road.

[SafeSteer]

Originally Posted by amit

Seems to me that the government is moving in the wrong direction with the way they want to frame the laws.

1.) Government needs to plan & design roads scientifically. Safety has to be designed into the roads. Also, remove corruption so that we get pot hole free roads. Does the government know how many accidents happen due to pot holes?

Agree on badly designed roads - not just city roads, but the so called 4/6 lane highways as well!

I have observed so many entry/exits in highways so abrupt, there is no concept of joining the flow at certain speed.

In my view another flaw in 4 lane highways are, these are 4 lanes whether within city limits or at empty stretch. I think, at least 15/20km before and after a city/town should get double the number of lanes to accommodate local traffic OR have bye-pass.

And, there is no effort to educate highway users on right way to use these roads. Just few sign boards on speed, slow moving lane did not help.

[M00M]

After watching the Transport Minister's speech, i am looking forward to the new CRVM Act. Couple of wishes:
1. We dont do a minor cut paste job and take the best of every act with an eye out if the best is possible of being followed in India or not. For example UK has a point based driving system which works for it because roads are big, less cars over all and sense of driving and no one taking a U turn in the middle of the road how they do in parts of India. A point based system might or might not work in India but better and stringent driving test will help educate new drivers from day one.

2. Better roads, properly planned roads with respect to parking and pedestrians, safer cars, mandatory 6 airbags in every car along with ABS and Brake Assist and Structurally Safe Cars. There should be a rule if car does not pass 2 or 3 stars it should be taxed heavily than a car which is 5 star crash rating.

3. Less powers in hands of police. They blatantly misuse their powers be it catching people for drink driving or any other traffic offence.

4. Penalties to be staggered. This needs to be thought through because if we increase fines traffic cops will charge less and pocket it and if we charge less people will keep breaking rules.

I hope we can see the day when India is as organised to drive as much as any western, asian country.

[Diesel_convert]

Originally Posted by gsurya

RTO functions under state Govt not Centre. Wonder why this has not been done in any BJP state so far if it was so easy? Even in Baroda where I lived 2 decades one still has to bribe for everything.

Let's not bring BJP into this.

In Bangalore at least amount of bribing has come down drastically because of introducing digital cameras to capture offenses,
blackberry's to record offender details and an instant receipt.

Similar things can work.

I have visited rto in blr recent times and things are quite professional, and no obvious requirement of an agent etc.