State to request Centre to make rash driving a cognisable offence

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde has ordered the state to write to the Centre to amend the Motor Vehicles Act and make reckless driving, driving without a licence and drunk driving of public transport vehicles cognisable offences. An immediate FIR can then be registered and the accused arrested. Shinde said this was being done as a deterrent after a spate of rash driving and drunk driving cases in the state, which resulted in increasing road accident figures.

Mumbai: On the orders of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the state will soon write to the Centre to amend the Motor Vehicles Act and make reckless driving, driving without a licence and drunk driving of public transport vehicles cognisable offences. Once this happens, an immediate FIR can be registered and the accused arrested.

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In a meeting today at Mantralaya, Shinde said that this was being done as a deterrent after a spate of rash driving and drunk driving cases in the state, which resulted in increasing road accident figures. In 2021, there were 20,860 accidents, and 9,829 persons lost their lives. The CM said that Himachal Pradesh had such laws.

At present, the Mumbai police does arrest drivers who are caught in their drink and drive campaigns, but an amendment to the law, making drunk driving a cognisable offence, will give teeth to the action. A senior officer of the state transport department said, “Once the amendment happens, a driver not in possession of a licence who has committed an accident will face a cognisable case wherein an FIR will be registered. Similarly, FIRs will also be registered against drivers of public transport vehicles who drink liquor and cause accidents.”

Transport commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar said that his division would write to the Centre to make driving without a licence and drunk driving cognisable offences. “There is also a demand to make rash driving a cognisable offence,” he said. “However, the transport department will have to examine the legal aspects of this. Quantifying rash driving is subjective.”

While talking about rash driving outside the city, Shinde said that reckless drivers on the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Highway were given counselling sessions while rumbler strips to reduce speed had been fitted at many places on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Sources in the state highway police said that a lot of accidents happened on both highways.

Retired IPS officer Harish Baijal, who spearheaded the anti-drink-and-drive campaign in Mumbai years ago, said that legal deterrents were necessary. “In a city like Mumbai, fines of ₹2,000 have no effect,” he said. “FIRs will act as a big deterrent. Drivers must have fear of the law. There should be more stringent punishment for repeat offenders and their licences must be cancelled permanently.” Baijal said that all the offences committed by a driver needed to be linked to the latter’s licence and available at the click of a mouse.

Sources in the chief minister’s office said that in the last few months, Shinde had visited some accident sites, and was convinced that the law needed amendment. They added that the highway police would soon be told to undertake a major drive at night just like the Mumbai police do. An IPS officer, who was the superintendent of Ratnagiri district, had done a survey on buses on the Mumbai-Goa highway a few years back, which showed that 85 percent of private bus drivers indulged in drunk driving.