Finally, after a delay of over two years the State government has announced the implementation of the new traffic rules from April 1 onwards. The rules, in force across the country with tweaks on the penalty amounts as per the discretion of the States, are part of the amended central Motor Vehicles Act 1988. The aim of the amendment to the Act is to bring about discipline on the roads through an increase in the amount of the fine to be paid in case of violations of the provisions of the Act. Goa had lagged in implementing the amended Act primarily because the opposition and the people had objected to it, citing at that time the bad conditions of the roads in the State and also the high amounts of the fines. The government had held back enforcing the new rules after this, which could be inferred as an admission by the establishment that the road conditions were not up to scratch.
The fines were notified last year with the proposal for implementation brought before the cabinet at least four times, but always deferred. In July last year, the then Transport Minister had said the Act would be brought into force in April 2022, after the Assembly elections. The public notice of the implementation should, therefore, not come as a surprise. It was expected and Goa has no choice but to go ahead with the amended Act. The only liberty it can take is to change the amount of the fine, which in certain cases has been done. The provisions of the Act, as directed by the Central government were to have been implemented from September 1, 2019. It was the State government that kept postponing the implementation of the Act.
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The resistance to amended Act has been primarily because it was felt that the penalty amounts are too steep and this was then linked to the condition of the State’s roads. However, these are fines that motorists will pay if they are found breaking any of the rules. These are not fees, but fines and if there is no misdemeanour then there will be no fine to be paid. If the fear of having to pay a high penalty or having one’s driving licence suspended brings about discipline on the road, then the new fines should not be opposed. There is dire need of an improved road culture and if strict fines are what will bring it about, then they will have to be implemented. The notice of the implementation of the rules came a day after a child died after being run over by a speeding car. Is any other reason required to implement this Act?
In that regard, one of the rules that is rather conspicuously missing from the list of transgressions for increased penalty amounts is drunken driving. Given that in Goa a large number of accidents are caused by persons driving under the influence of liquor, this is one rule that should have been included in this list. There was a time when the authorities would check drivers for their alcohol content, but this too does not happen very often any longer. Rather than just sudden drives to check for alcohol content in drivers, this should be a continuous process that will force people to not drive after consuming alcohol.
For discipline on the roads and an improved road culture the higher penalties may help, but simultaneously the government has to deliver on better road conditions. The potholed roads are no pleasure to drive upon and though the new highways are making up for the conditions of some other roads, the internal roads have to be made motorable. That is the least that is expected from the government.
