Private member's bill on road safety introduced in Lok Sabha

In a bid to check the steep increase in cases of fatal accidents across the nation, a private member's bill on road safety was today introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Balasore MP RK Jena tabled the Bill titled "National Road Safety Transport and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, 2015", which proposes to replace the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, with a comprehensive protective framework for all class of road.
"The growing number of road accident deaths in the country, and especially on National Highway 60 in my constituency, forced me to reflect seriously upon the issue of road safety in India.
"The Bill has been introduced with the aim to address the deficiencies in the current legislation pertaining to road transport," said Jena.

The MP made a special mention of the number of children who lost their lives in such mishaps.
"Around 17,000 children were killed last year alone. I have therefore made sure that this Bill also contains important provisions, especially relating to safety of children during commute," said Jena.

The bill includes measures like statutes for protection of cyclists, pedestrians and other Vulnerable Road Users (VRU). It also guarantees stringent punishment for faulty road design and construction flaws.
Aimed at ensuring maximum safety of the drivers as well as the pedestrians and other commuters, the Bill also mandates safe driving training for obtaining a license.

Stringent punishment for drunk-driving, over-speeding and reckless driving besides strict regulation of Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMV's) are among some of the key features of the bill.