Shortage of officials in the judiciary, a weak Motor Vehicles Act, and lack of proper enforcement, are the key reasons for low rate of convictions in road accident cases, say experts.
Tamil Nadu recorded the highest rate of road accidents in the country in 2015, according to data released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Thursday.
“The Motor Vehicles Act in its present form is weak. If the law itself is weak, getting convictions is going to be tougher. The law needs to be strengthened, so that enforcement can follow, hopefully reducing road accidents,” Saji Cherian, Director – Operations, Save Life Foundation told The Hindu.
V.S. Suresh, a lawyer at the Madras High Court, dealing with motor accidents and claims cases, says that nearly 80 per cent of motor accidents cases see acquittals. Getting a conviction in the remaining 20 per cent too is a difficult task as the judiciary is overworked; there is a shortage of staff at the courts, and police officials not filing their reports on time.
“In most injury-related cases, people plead guilty before the Lok Adalat, pay a fine ranging between Rs, 2,000 and Rs. 3,000, depending on the number of sections slapped on the violator, and get away,” he said.
But, in fatal accidents, it takes anywhere between two to three years for cases to come up for hearing, Mr. Suresh said.
It also takes anywhere between three and six months for a charge sheet to be filed, he added.
Penalties
“The current penalties violators pay was fixed in 1988. You need to index penalties with inflation, so that people have fear of paying high fines that can act as a deterrent to violating traffic rules,” according to Mr. Cherian. He added that faulty road design needs to be addressed in a legislative manner, as it is one of the key reasons for accidents.
T. D. Sadasivam, President, Automobile Association of Southern India, put the onus on safety on drivers. “There is no self discipline among drivers. If you look at a majority of signal violations, they are by educated people. They have a “what’s going to happen?” attitude.
