[SS-Traveller]

The much-discussed, long-pending new Motor Vehicles Act, 2019 is about to be implemented across the country in a few days' time. The penalties for bad driving and disobedience of traffic rules have gone up 4x to 10x.

This thread is to seek responses from members about the strategies they have in mind to cope with these higher fines. Would love to hear from all of you about how you plan to avoid the big voids in your wallet - what preventive measures are you, your family members or your chauffeur planning to implement, to avoid getting fined while driving?

[gkveda]

One line answers are not accepted in this forum.

But the answer is actually just one line.

"Follow traffic rules"

By the way, some how I managed to write 4 lines and escaped infraction

[hrk997]

Personally, I follow the rules, and don't drive like an idiot unlike the cab and bus drivers, who somehow never get fined. That being said, I'm guilty of occasionally speeding, but I've not endangered myself or anyone else on the road, so I do not feel guilty. However, while I was in Bangalore, I was driving a TN vehicle, and would end up being stopped eventhough I hadn't done anything, and I'd be given frivolous reasons for being stopped. Thrice I've been stopped eventhough I had committed no offense, but unlike the cop, I had places to go to, and both of us would resort to haggling and bargaining. Thrice, I was told to stop, I pretended to stop, and sped away before he could do anything about it. That's how I plan to deal with it, by choosing to not stop and entertain these thieves. You'd be surprised by how little they can actually do if you don't stop.

[SmartCat]

"Speeding" is the only traffic rule I tend to break occasionally. That's usually driving at 66 kmph in a 60 kmph zone on wide downward sloping sections of the ring road. I intend to grin and bear the new "traffic fine", rather than drive with my eyes fixated on the speedometer.

[jailbird_fynix]

Option 4 : I will give a hollow grin knowing very well that like any other 'Act', this too shall be eventually abused and exploited for corruption because rules and fines can do only so much as long as people understand that they're there for a reason.





We can only pray that these exorbitant fines dissuades atleast some of them from breaking the law.

[Miyata]

I recall two traffic tickets in Bangalore so far -

1) Hosur Rd. underneath the BETL : Early noon on a working day. Very sparse traffic coming from EC side to the Silk Board side. I must have been at 70 kmph. Few cops standing on the side signaled for me to stop. They inform me the speed limit is 40 kmph (or so) and that I was above the speed limit.

I scanned around to check for speed limit boards, but saw none. I asked them where the nearest board is, they said it was in the back!

Anyway, I agreed to pay the fine and move and made a note to myself to check for that speed limit board.

2) I received a parking ticket for seemingly parking in a no-parking area. I have absolutely no idea where that came from. I anyway paid it and moved on.

Wonder where and how they use these fines collected from traffic "violations" though.

I generally do follow traffic rules, including the speed limit ones. However, my first preference is generally to keep pace with the current traffic flow and not watch too closely for posted speed limits. Serves just fine.

If I do receive a ticket, I don't mind just paying up and moving on with life. Can't fight all battles, wouldn't mind letting these go!

[bluevolt]

Driving without license?

What does this exactly means for NCR Traffic Police?

I don't keep my original license with me and instead carry e-license through DigiLocker App. Same for the vehicle RC.

I also keep a copy of order that validates carrying of license through digi locker app and will be acceptable by police.

[ashis89]

I have got one speeding ticket (5 kmph above limit) and two no parking tickets (once I stopped by the road to drink some water after a really long drive and got clicked) till date which I paid off. I have been careful enough to be within the rules and hope to continue doing so. Hence, I am not concerned about this new Act but expect it to make the roads a better place for us. The only weak link I can see is the enforcement of these rules by the Police!

[NPV]

I'm extremely happy that the bill was passed finally and the new fines will become operational soon. We have way too many red light jumpers and wrong side riders/drivers and I'm hoping that it will bring their numbers down significantly.

As for myself, I always follow traffic rules (always use seat belt when driving the car and helmet when riding the scooter) and haven't been fined for any serious violations in the last 2 decades other than 2 parking violations both reported by overzealous residents (Public Eye) despite the absence of a No Parking sign there, still paid up. I will keep out an extra watch for No Parking zones and will challenge them henceforth if challaned incorrectly (assuming fines are not Rs.100 anymore!).

[Hayek]

Follow the traffic rules is the theoretical answer. But how do you follow the traffic rules when the speed limit on the JJ flyover is 30 kmph? Or when 5 cars squeeze into 3 lanes - and you have occasional fines for “lane cutting”. Or when most shopping districts lack Pay and Park facilities.

However, I am a supporter of higher fines - I just hope enforcement is uniform (viz the scooter with a family of 4 on it coming the wrong way down Dr Ambedkar Road is as likely to get fined as I am if I forget to maximum rate brake before the speed cameras on JJ).

Checked my fine track record - one speeding on the Eastern Express Highway (at 8 am on a Sunday morning). My driver who drives my wife’s Vento has incurred 2-3 Parking Fines, and 2-3 fines for crossing the line at signals. The second category is avoidable and he is going to be warned that he may pay 50% of those costs. Let’s see how this goes.

[Chetan_Rao]

'Don't break the rules, Duh!'

Snark aside, and granted some of the proposed fines are arbitrary and our traffic cops known opportunists (speed cams on downwards slopes anyone?), I'm still supportive of the overall intent and hope for earnest implementation.

If this can bring down our culture of blatant traffic violations even by a third over the next few years, I'll consider the fines a price worth paying for a better behaved driving population.

[CliffHanger]

Good Times for our police uncles.

How does government plans to curb corruption from our police uncles?

Immediate suspension and termination of service on getting caught on the camera of a passerby?

[WorkingGuru]

Firstly, I'm extremely pro-establishment and I believe governments have a reasonable right to tax it's citizens as well as duty to punish them.

In India, a country that has a gravely under-staffed police constabulary, with no machinery & equipment to prevent violations, how will it ever become a practice for a heavily populated citizenry to not mistakenly violate the law ?

Now,
These fines aren't minor amounts, infact these are (quite arbitrarily decided) significant sums of money (considering they mean income of a common citizen who uses a motorised vehicle) that'll be imposed & recovered as penalty.

If the violation is so grave an offence so as to solicit such large penalties, citizens will demand that traffic police put in reasonable efforts to prevent violations in the first place - which we have not seen till date and doesn't even seem to be the practice.

Challenging a false charge by cops will cost even more & confound citizens with procedure & make them busy with formalities.

This law is being used as a tool to scuttle the common man & deliberately hurt him financially. Such statecraft is carried out so as to keep citizens busy in making ends meet. That itself acts as a deterrence to them from being able to have the time and money to undertakes procedure to demand accountability from the Govt.

This is how also dictators functioned. Citizens are initially subject to heavy penalties for minor offences. Then slowly as time passes and they're used to it, one by one they're stripped off of their rights & liberties.

[anjan_c2007]

Best to obey and be obedient to traffic rules for your own safety always. It's another matter that wrong doers and rule breakers have a field day in the Indian traffic scenario and a majority of them never get caught. But sometimes one fatal mistake for these categories of traffic users may occur. It's providence after all. By fatal I would mean a killer or life threatening mistake here.

Yes, the stiffer fines are meant to deter the rule breakers and wrong doers, but it's anybody's guess as to how much of the fines collected will go to the state exchequer. Much of it will go as "stiffer bribes" to the corrupt ones in uniform, commensurate with the officially hiked fine.

The fines can surely be a deterrent if implemented sensu stricto, but all such ideas are Utopian.

[swissknife]

I have been driving for over 30 years and have been fined twice. Both the times for jumping a red.

In the first case, about 10 odd years ago, in thick traffic I was behind a bus that jumped the red. Being behind the bus, the signal wasn't visible. The bus got away and I was stopped and paid the fine with a challan.

The second time, I was behind a truck on the lane closest to the median at a traffic signal where a right is not permitted. The truck decided to turn right (forcing traffic on the other side to make way). Just as the truck turned away, I moved forward only to find the signal turning red. Now, I was past the stop line and in the way of traffic turning right from the other side. My stopping at that place would have meant that those making the right turn would be troubled to go around me. I chose to move out to not be a pain to that traffic. I was pulled over and I paid the fine by challan. Though I told the cops on what happened and that the truck took an illegal right the response was, these trucks are like that, what do we do? They asked me for the number of the truck though the truck was well in their sight. Unfortunately, I had taken out my memory card from my dashcam the previous day and forgot to put it back in to be able to give them the number of the truck.

Lessons were learnt from both these incidents.