The petition given by activist Prince Singhal to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for amendment to Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, has been approved by the Cabinet and would soon be incorporated as law.
Almost 1,34,000 people die in road accidents annually in India, and about 70 per cent of these are due to drunk driving.
In an effort to strengthen his fight against drunk driving and comprehensively addressing this preventable social menace, activist Prince Singhal had met and presented a petition to Mr. C.P. Joshi, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, with recommendations to curb this menace with tough penalties as part of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Singhal says: “Drunk driving should be considered a premeditated crime, and it should be made non-bailable, especially in cases of death caused due to drunk driving. In the present context I feel that even though higher fines would prove to be a deterrent, the key lies in systematic and positive enforcement, and thus I have also suggested the formation of a Special Monitoring Committee to overview the overall enforcement of the Motor Vehicles Act by the police in a corruption-free manner. Such a body should also function as an appellate body providing a suitable platform for grievance redressal aimed at empowering citizens to lodge their complaint.”