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MOTORINDIA
l
April 2012
Cabinet approves petition against
drunken driving
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 compre-
hensively addressing this prevent-
able 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 Ve-
hicles 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 sys-
tematic and positive enforcement,
and thus I have also suggested the
formation of a Special Monitoring
road transportation
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 em-
powering citizens to lodge their
complaint.”
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