Road accidents in Goa are turning out to be the new normal. It appears that road safety and safe driving has no place in the agenda of road users and road traffic enforcement authorities. Goa witnessed around 110 road deaths in the first seven months of 2023, leaving many injured. In 2022, the fatalities were 218. The horrifying spectacle at Banastarim where a Mercedes rammed into five vehicles, killing three on the spot and seriously injuring another three is the rarest of the rare testimony of rash, negligent and irresponsible driving. This road fury should have brought to the centre stage the issue of road safety. However, it is the rotten alcohol consumption and the stinking arrogance of the couple that gets prominence in media discussions and social dialogues.
The focus turns away from road safety and enforcing road culture to the harshest punishment for the crime. The government also played the card of shifting the accident case to crime branch to mollify the public outrage.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
According to Road Transport and Highway Ministry, half a million accidents are reported in India every year, in which more than 1,50,000 people lose their lives. This makes roads some kind of a battleground with complete absence of controls on road causalities. Very few of the incidents referred to as road accidents are due to unavoidable factors.
Instances of accidents due to technical failures or reasons beyond the control would indeed be paltry. Some of them are due to human error or miscalculations on the spur of the moment. However, majority of accidents are collisions which could have been avoided. They are definitely due to over speeding, road rage and negligent driving. This should be referred as ‘Vehicular Manslaughter’ or ‘Vehicular Homicide’ and not as road accidents.
There are vehement movements for justice to victims of road deaths. The singular agenda of such activities is to ensure the punishment to the offender. The baser instincts of the society of revenge get satisfied with jail to the wrongdoer, who is hunted as the criminal. The centre of attention is invariably the offender. It is presumed that justice will be bestowed on the victim once the offender is harmed with a prison sentence.
Criminal proceeding is initiated by the state and the police. It could be frustrating for the victim as no punishment can provide gain to the victim or reduce the pain of the family. Finally, the criminal proceeding may or may not result in punishment or prison sentence to the offender. It is the civil proceeding for compensation for the victim that can alleviate the suffering and give a semblance of equity and justice. A prison sentence for the offender is just 25% of the story. Justice to the victim can be only realised if the loss to the victim and the family is indemnified through fair and adequate monetary compensation.
Insurance companies repudiate the cover if the driver is found under influence of alcohol or drugs. It would be pointless to sue the offender, if the driver has no money or asset to liquidate and pay compensation. Further, civil suits can take any length of time. The suffering of the victim will be more than that of the jailed driver. What is therefore required is a standing legal mechanism for award of immediate compensation to victims.
It is true that the mental and physical loss of a victim in a fatal road accident cannot be computed in terms of money but there is no other way to compensate except by payment of just compensation. It is in this context that the relevant provisions, more specifically Section 145 to 164 of the Motor Vehicles (32nd Amendment Act) 2019 should be made operational. Though the amendment came into force from April, 2022, it is learnt that the rules are yet to be framed for grant of compensation to road victims.
Section 140, M.V. Act deals with payment of compensation on the principle of no fault i.e. wherein the claimant need not establish the wrongful act of the offender. Under this section, the owners of the vehicle shall be jointly and severally liable to pay compensation in respect of death or disablement. Section 145 to 164 provides for compulsory third-party insurance to be taken by every vehicle owner. It needs to be noted that the third-party insurance is fault based and the claimant has to prove the fault of the insured to claim the damages. Section 165 mandates that the State government should notify Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal to adjudicate claims for compensation in respect of accidents involving death or injury. This mechanism is to enable fast and timely disposal of accident claims.
Apart from the award of compensation under Section 140, in all other claims for compensation, the fault of the owner or driver will have to be proved. This will involve a legal battle and the outcome would depend on proper documentation and full-proof evidence. NGOs and public-spirited individuals who espouse the cause of justice to victims of road accidents can be of immense utility if their guns are focussed on claims for compensation to victims. What we also require is a victim-friendly jurisprudence in the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal. This is not to belittle criminal justice and criminal punishment. Vehicular manslaughter and vehicular homicide should not go unpunished. At the same time, victims of road accidents and their families have nothing to gain with only such poetic justice.
(The writer is an educationist and political commentator)
