Soon, drunk drivers will have to pay damages on own

Soon, drunk drivers will have to pay damages on own

Highlights:

The person driving under the influence will have to cough up the entire amount for causing death or injury, according to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Experts said while the new provision is likely to act as a deterrent, there is a fear that victims may end up getting little compensation depending upon the incomeof the accused

NEW DELHI: Insurance companies will not pay any compensation to victims in accidents caused by drunk driving.

Instead, the person driving under the influence will have to cough up the entire amount for causing death or injury, according to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

However, the road transport ministry has not included the provision of trying drunk drivers for “culpable homicide not amounting to murder” in case of death caused by them in a crash, which is a non-bailable offence and attracts 10-year jail term.

Though the ministry had accepted the recommendation of a parliamentary panel, it referred the suggestion to the MHA as it requires an amendment in the IPC.

Experts said while the new provision is likely to act as a deterrent, there is a fear that victims may end up getting little compensation since it will depend on the income and paying capacity of the accused driver.

“Why is the government putting such a provision when it’s aware of the income of professional drivers? This will indirectly benefit the insurance companies. Any single drunk driver hitting road is a failure of the government authorities,” said S P Singh of IFTRT, a Delhi-based think tank on transport issues.

Introducing the bill, road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said the objective behind the proposed law is to reduce road fatalities by half.

The bill provides for stringent penalties, including jail term and suspension of driving licence, for offences such as juvenile driving, speeding, dangerous driving and double penalty on enforcement personnel for committing any offence. The proposed law will also have provision for regulating taxi aggregators.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/