[cooljai]

Increase in fines is a good thing, and there are some real good initiatives around having a centralized database of vehicles and licences at the national level.
The next step should be to bring in the points system to manage penalties, and in my opinion, that will help in bringing in some discipline on the road, especially with cab drivers and drivers of other commercial vehicles!

[paragsachania]

I am all for the new amendments in the Motor Vehicle Bill.

Our fellow motorists have always wore helmet and seat belts only to save 100 bucks but not for the very reason that these can be life savers in case of accidents.

What I fear the most is the "settlement" that will see an up-rise trend with the new fine amounts. Those who cannot (or not willing to) pay 500 will start negotiating with the cops and settle for a lesser amount and just drive away.

Along with the changes in fine amounts what I really wish is that our enforcement authorities make the roads worthy enough to be driven safely - Lane markings, Signage, Warning sings, plugging of dangerous median gaps, removal of life threatening speed breakers, stringent implementation of speed limits and lane discipline, Hawker free highways and more.

Merely increasing the fine amount is still not going to reduce the accident rates on our roads. Most of our roads are now transforming into dual carriageways with medians but that hasn't reduced accidents to any extent. In fact, Good roads (Read fast) have also invited many on roads who would otherwise prefer to board a Luxury Bus or flight to their destination.

[avisidhu]

Wish all the money collected is used to modernize and strengthen the enforcement of these rules, and hire more traffic cops.

And it would be good to consider paying traffic cops a certain percent of the challan amount collected which will incentivize them not to take bribes. I've heard this was done for the Ticket checkers in railways and was pretty successful (but not sure if it's true).

[hserus]

Originally Posted by avisidhu

And it would be good to consider paying traffic cops a certain percent of the challan amount collected which will incentivize them not to take bribes. I've heard this was done for the Ticket checkers in railways and was pretty successful (but not sure if it's true).

This actually gives them more of an excuse to catch and fine people on trumped up charges. Or tempt people into violations - for example

1. The one mentioned earlier about hiding behind a tree or a blind corner

2. Putting up speed limit signs behind a tree / making the paint deliberately dim and fuzzy, and making sure that there are sudden changes in speed limit (eg: on a stretch of highway the limit might be 80 - but just behind a tree for 1 km there is a posted sign that says 50 kmph, and a squad waiting some distance beyond that). <- this is a favorite trick of some smaller US towns that are near interstates in Florida etc - because fine revenue goes to the police dept for that town.

Note - the real bonanza for the traffic cops is from chasing down private public transport vehicles (office cab tempo travelers, travels buses etc) and trucks. Also bad news for Ola / Uber type aggregators.

The vehicle without permit will now have to pay up to Rs. 10,000. For aggregators (violations of licencing conditions) the proposed penalty would be Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 1,00,000.

The new proposed penalty for overloading is Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 2,000 per extra tonne. For overloading of passengers, the penalty would be Rs. 1000 per extra passenger.

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by hserus

This actually gives them more of an excuse to catch and fine people on trumped up charges. Or tempt people into violations - for example

1. The one mentioned earlier about hiding behind a tree or a blind corner

2. Putting up speed limit signs behind a tree / making the paint deliberately dim and fuzzy, and making sure that there are sudden changes in speed limit (eg: on a stretch of highway the limit might be 80 - but just behind a tree for 1 km there is a posted sign that says 50 kmph, and a squad waiting some distance beyond that). <- this is a favorite trick of some smaller US towns that are near interstates in Florida etc - because fine revenue goes to the police dept for that town.

Note - the real bonanza for the traffic cops is from chasing down private public transport vehicles (office cab tempo travelers, travels buses etc) and trucks. Also bad news for Ola / Uber type aggregators.

But they could resort to the same tactics if they intend to collect bribes no? I completely understand that a line divides strict compliance and downright harassment.

But my experience being in an overly compliant city like Chandigarh compared to the sheer madness of Pune and Delhi earlier, has made me a firm believer that I'd take such strict compliance any day, even if it translates to harassment on occasion(something I myself have been a victim of).

[Abhishek3001]

I think that the actual fine collection system needs a major overhaul,as of now there is no way for the person being fine to challenge the fine.
I had a jammer put on my car once because I had parked on the left side of the road.The cop stated that on that particular road,4 wheelers can only be parked on the right side of the road and 2wheelers on the left.There were absolutely no signs/board on the entire length of that road,the cop said that there USED TO BE A SIGN there stating the rule.

I wanted to challenge the fine but I had no other option than to pay the fine otherwise my car would have been towed and the fine would become higher due to the towing charges.

[Bh.P]

I do not think this will solve the root cause of the current situation, which is "poor law enforcement". Till that is resolved, no amount of new laws or amendments will help.

The reason people do not follow law is they know there is a pretty high chance of them going unnoticed. Not because they are OK with paying Rs.100 if they get caught.

Ask the average guy why he does not wear a helmet, and usually the response would be "no one stops me", not "I will pay Rs. 100 if am caught".

[PetrolRider]

I was shocked to know there is a group in Pune which opposes 'Helmet Compulsion' by law and order authority. They are so furious that the mighty administration and police backed out from implementing any helmet rule here.

Boh .. we are talking about fines. Who knows may be there will be groups protesting against 'illegal fine and jail to drunk drivers'. Incredible India.

[sushantr5]

Law enforcement needs to be improved using technology available like any other developed countries. We face many problems in current RTO data framework
1. The fine collection by chalan sending to registered address will improve law enforcement by much extent. This should be implemented countrywide.

2. Now I am sure lot percentage of people do not update address in their RTO directory. So sending notices of fine will be unanswered most of the cases. Some people might just neglect this thing and they know RTO data does not have pointer to real person or owner in case of address change. So it will be loophole in the system. To avoid this link RTO data with Aadhar card. Then people will be deterred from breaking law. They know someday I have to pay fine which might have increased multi fold over the time and enforcement authorities can reach me anytime.

The enforcement personal will be big looser as they will not meet bribery target. But on the other side their life will be lot easier in the situations where localities bullies policemen in current situation where localities break law. This will in turn increase their self respect.

And more to this, make every citizen a citizen policemen. Develop a smartphone app where he can report law breaking incidences by taking photos along with GPS information.

Implement all this, within no time country will be one of the best to drive in the world.

[NiXTriX2004]

Originally Posted by sushantr5

....

And more to this, make every citizen a citizen policemen. Develop a smartphone app where he can report law breaking incidences by taking photos along with GPS information.

Implement all this, within no time country will be one of the best to drive in the world.

Such an app already exists. The Bangalore Traffic Police have such an app where citizens can post images of violations and action will be taken.

But there is a drawback to this. How can I report violations if I am driving? I should not use the mobile phone. That it self is a violation. Hence, a large majority of the violations go unreported.

You can find the Android app in the link below.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ublicEye&hl=en

[Altocumulus]

This is good however I am worried about the State multiplier clause where if the state government wants they can add a multiplier upto 10 times. That is definitely scary/too much. Cannot help but think that Bangalore/Karnataka RTO will definitely implement this to lash back on the losses they will have due to the Road Tax chaos.

[globemaster]

I am apprehensive of the effectiveness of these rules. I think this will encourage the traffic cops more to come out with new tricks and hidden clauses to extract money (bribes for most cases) from motorists. There are lot of 'grey areas' that will be exploited by cops to get their share of 'taxes'.

Just as Abhishek3001 mentioned, we will now hear more of "there used to be a sign here".
For example: There seems to be no distinguishing between what is over-speeding / dangerous driving / speeding / racing. but the fines are very different. So now it gives the police chance to target everyone who is above the speed limit as racing/dangerous driving.

I do agree that this type of measures are really necessary in our great country. However, I also have an equally huge doubt on how effectively this will serve the actual purpose.

[Mortis]

While larger fines are welcomed as it may make some difference, in order to check Police corruption, give them good working hours and a good salary so that they have no excuse to complain and straight away impose death penalty for all police personnel for even the smallest infraction which is supported by clearcut proof. Nothing else is going to get things on track

[landcruiser123]

I just hope this doesn't increasing palm greasing.

I think implementation is key as the traffic police force has less people. Also, why is there no fine for not following lane discipline?

I hope that all the amounts collected are used for good purposes- increasing the number of policemen, repairing infrastructure etc

[anand.shankar]

How about adding the below point along with this law ?

* Imprisonment and dismissal from service if a cop is caught accepting bribe ?