Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill 2016 is Here

Riding a motorcycle is literally balancing yourself on an extremely hot chunk of metal with a tank of highly inflammable liquid between your legs, all on two wheels; quite dangerous. To make things more interesting we are constantly surprised with near-death experiences; courtesy of some hooligan with a twist-happy wrist. With a 900 per cent increase in some fines, the new numbers should help keep the hooligans in check and prevent them from making a nuisance of themselves on the roads.

Some of the salient features of the bill are

• Aadhaar is now mandatory for driving licences and vehicle registration.

• Alterations have to be made to make vehicles more accessible for differently-abled people.

• The inclusion of a Motor Vehicle Accident Fund mandates the coverage of insurance for all motorists in certain types of accidents.

• Enables the government to impose a multiplier on certain fines. These multipliers cannot be less than one or more than ten.

• Contractors, civic agencies and consultants will be held responsible in the event of an accident caused due to poor roads.

• The time for applying for compensation related to road accidents has been limited to six months.

The new fine structure is as follows:

Will this stop people falling off motorcycles? Maybe not. However, it will prevent a lot of unfortunate incidents if enforced strictly.

Story: Joshua Varghese