In colonial times, public humiliation to an offender through corporal punishment in a public place or town square was an accepted form of sentence. In the Middle-East countries it was a common practice to award the penalty of public flogging for offences like pick pocketing. In this form of ‘mob justice’, large crowds used to gather to witness the humiliating punishment and the fear and the agony of the unclothed perpetrator. A flash market with stalls used to spring up at such locations. In such public shaming festivals, gambling and pick pocketing would continue by the side! The spectacle of pain and degradation would not deter potential street criminals. At the most, such public exhibition of punishment would satisfy the baser instinct of revenge and cruel fun of the general public.
In a similar way, though the objectives of the amended Motor Vehicles Act are laudable and much needed for safety and road discipline, the overdose of fines has drawn flak and created deadlock. The transport authorities and other related law enforcement agencies find these provisions attractive and easy to operate. Planning for driving sense on roads, tackling road rage and working for road safety could finally get reduced to merely transport policing. The enforcement would largely rely on setting up ‘shacks & tents’ on highways and unheard corners to catch the errant and partake the ‘joy and pleasure’ of heavy fines. Road safety is reduced to catching errant drivers and imposing the disproportionate fine. The threat of monetary loss is undoubtedly a powerful negative stimulus to ensure compliance to laws. Road-users would put the documentation in respect of the vehicle in place. Soon, we will find all users falling in line in respect of all legal paperwork.
Road safety is more about the skills, attitude and assimilation of road culture by the person behind the steering wheel. Positive measures such as road education, technical training, good roads, adequate signage, exclusive ways for two-wheelers, paths for pedestrians, etc, are required. Non-monetary measures beginning from stringent screening from the first stage of issue of driving licence to renewal and suspension for major delinquency are good instruments.
Those who oppose the extravagant fines do not care for lives of people is a bizarre argument. Similar shots are fired against those who hold the cudgel for repeal of death sentence from statute books. After continuous reports of rape cases, the civil society and the government was on the same page of providing the sentence of death for the offence. Many sane individuals and women’s organisations were not in favour of this extreme punishment. They advocated for effective investigation and speedy trial and also for inclusion of compensatory forms of punishment along with imprisonment and reformatory labour for the criminal as this alone can be the deterrent and also result in justice to the victim. Conviction rates are very low in India and the death sentence is the rarest. It is therefore imperative to work on speedy conviction to provide teeth to the law against rape. Just a provision of death sentence amounts to catching of the shadow instead of the substance. It gives a feeling that the government and the law enforcement mechanisms are extremely serious with little impact on the offence and offender. The over emphasis on fines in respect of motor-vehicles should not overshadow the ultimate purpose of the law of road safety.
The amended Motor Vehicles Act has all good provisions except the ‘merciless’ fines. The provision for compensation to road accident victims, holding the guardian responsible for acts of juvenile, relief to Good Samaritans for rendering emergency medical assistance to victims, creation of accident relief fund, community service, driver training course with a curriculum for issue and renewal of licence are salutary and should be given top priority. All this should be viewed as a composite package for implementation by concerned authorities. Just putting the entire law enforcement machinery for imposing and collection of fine is a simplistic, one-dimensional and crude approach to work for road safety.
The revised Motor Vehicles law is a good horse but prone to an errant obstruction in the journey. States like Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and West Bengal are on the track of reviewing the provisions. Even the BJP ruled states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttarakhand are moving to reduce the quantum of traffic fines. The reach out to road users with only the stick cannot create a congenial environment of compliance. It creates a frenzy of another kind where the traffic police are looked at as enemies of people or revenue collectors from helpless public.
The new Act deserves appreciation and such legal intervention is required looking at the road rage and deaths. It would be more productive to tighten implementation of all the provisions and rationalising the fines to reasonable limits. First of all, such steep fine is akin to legalised robbery. There is credence to the view that very high fines make corruption possible and lucrative.
It is true that the number of people killed in road accidents in India in a year number more than people killed in all the wars taken together. Still, increasing fines for traffic offences by ten times is uncivilised; whatever may be the civilised objective we desire to achieve. The root of the problem is in the lackadaisical manner in which driving licences are issued sans road education. We have to operate seriously and scientifically at this level and engage in public education sensitising people on road deaths with vigour and consistency.
(The writer is an educationist and political commentator).
