Changes to Motor Vehicle Act delayed; Gadkari seeks more time

The Act proposes hefty penalties for traffic rule violations and drunken driving

The amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act is likely to be delayed by a couple of months as the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has said it needs three months to review the current Act and thereafter will introduce it afresh in Parliament.

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, which could be passed only in the Rajya Sabha in May 2012, proposes hefty penalties for traffic rule violations and drunken driving.

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said, "We need three months to study the (Motor Vehicle) Act in its totality and then we will try and bring it in Parliament in its next session."

He added that the Act should be as per international standards.

Gadkari, on June 5, had said that the government in a month's time will re-draft the Motor Vehicle amendment bill, which will be in sync with six advanced nations - US, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany and the UK, and thereafter will introduce it in Parliament.

Repeated violations of traffic rules resulting in cancellation of driving license is likely to be one of the major amendments to the Bill.

"If anyone violates the road rules more than three times, his driving licence will be suspended for six months and if he continues to violate after that, then the driving licence will be cancelled. These are some of the considerations as part of redrafting the Motor Vehicles bill," the Minister had said.

Several provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988, especially those related to penalties for violations, have not been found to be effective in checking road accidents. The last time the Act was amended was in 2001.