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Need to address hit-and-run cases with use of technology: MoRTH Secy
The government replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC) with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the new penal law attracts punishment of up to 10 years and a fine of ₹7 lakh in on hit-and-run cases
The Union road transport and highways ministry (MoRTH) on Friday stressed the need to address “hit-and-run” cases with the use of technology and suggested that a system should be developed where the drivers can report the incident within a 25-50km range after the incident had transpired, if not immediately, to avoid making it a more serious crime.
“We can use technology to find out solutions and we are working on that if we can set up a system where the driver can report the incident and if they do then it would not be considered as a hit and run case and later report to a police station within 25-50 km,” said Anurag Jain, secretary, MoRTH.
He added, however, that the final decision is to be taken by the Union home ministry.
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The government recently replaced the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the new penal law attracts punishment of up to 10 years and a fine of ₹7 lakh for drivers who cause a serious road accident by negligent driving and run away without informing the police or any official from the administration. Earlier, it was a two-year jail term under section 304A of the IPC.
Truck and bus drivers across India are carrying out strikes to oppose the new penal law under the newly-passed law saying that it is “one-sided”.
Jain said that the agitation of the truckers was ‘understandable’ but noted the seriousness of the issue was even bigger. “The fear of truckers is also understandable that if they don’t flee the spot then their vehicle and even the driver could be set on fire…. We understand the fact that the punishment is for someone’s negligent driving and on top of that if they evade the situation then it is a more serious issue,” Jain said.
On Tuesday, after a discussion between Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla and representatives from the All India Motor Transport Congress, truckers decided to suspend their protests as the Centre said that the new provisions had not yet been implemented.
Jain also assured that the welfare of the truckers across the country was prime for the ministry and that it was doing everything in their ambit to ensure that the same is implemented with active coordination with stakeholders.
Also Read: New law is harsh and one-sided, say drivers
Jain acknowledged that the MoRTH too was at fault as far as road accidents in India are concerned, but said that in some instances accidents happened due to changes in the behaviour of drivers and that education was most important to minimise such calamities.
“If you analyse why road accidents happen then obviously 5-10% is our fault, where maybe some spots are not well made or there is some issue with the marking. Whatever is in our hand, we will fix it and we are trying to bridge the time gap too where before it used to take 4-5 years to make corrections,” Jain said.
In 2022, there were 461,000 road accidents across India which was slightly more than the number in 2019—the last ‘normal’ year before the Covid pandemic—when India saw around 456,000 road crashes.
“The issue is also related to behaviour change of a driver where accidents happen where a car is coming from the Opposite side on a one-lane road. This is impossible to stop and education is a must to rectify this. But we have tried to rectify our part and covered the black spots in highways,” Jain said.
