Allow Cookies!
By using our website, you agree to the use of cookies
At a meeting organized by the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, the experts on the matter said that if Gujarat wants to be able to control at least half of road accidents by mid-2020, the state needs to implement the Motor Vehicles Act in its entirety.
When the Act was passed, the people had started following the rules after they were made to pay hefty fines once or twice. When they understood that those were the penalties to be imposed on violating traffic rules, they started applying for the vehicle-related documents and purchasing helmets. Hefty fines are what people are afraid of and not road accidents said ACP of Ahmedabad Police Akash Patel.
After Gujarat became the first state to oppose the Act saying that the penalties were very high and thus made a reduction in fines by almost 90% of what was given in the Act, people started taking road safety very lightly again. The Experts at the meeting said that there is need to pay attention to certain other problems like road designs, data, and other innovative approaches to curb accidents on road.
Dr. Pravin Kanabar of the Ahmedabad Traffic Consultative Committee said that the target to reduce the number of road accidents by 2020 seems to be a dream and that the states would not be able to achieve it. He said that when the state required strict penalties to be more careful on road, the state government went on reducing penalties up to 90% and giving extensions for implementing the same. Creating awareness among people is what we require at the moment that saving the lives of people is more important than money.
The experts also mentioned that the design of roads and infrastructure also adds to road accidents. It is sad that huge money was invested in setting up new infrastructure while nothing was done to maintain it.
86540
103860
630
114
59824