HC forms panel to check menace of fake driving licence(Times of India,December 11,2009)

New Delhi: With one lakh people dying in road accidents every year in the country, the Delhi High Court has suggested a tough law to check fake driving licence holders and those who issue such licences.
The court has also set up a committee comprising five lawyers and the joint commissioner of police and directed the police to convene a meeting of committee members with insurance companies to have a detailed discussion to sort out the problem on December 14.
While hearing a motor accident case in which the driver had a fake driving licence, Justice J R Midha, in an order, has sent 9 suggestions, submitted by senior counsel Arun Mohan, to the export committee of the ministry of road and transport for consideration.
Advocate Mohan suggested a special cell with an e-mail address to be created to entertain the complaints relating to fake licence holders. Whenever the police registers an FIR against a person for driving with fake licence, particulars of the FIR be entered by the cell in the entry against the information received, the counsel suggested.
He said the cell should prepare a tabulated chart for the information received and look for any pattern within it and take action according to law. The senior lawyer said the details about the offender should be displayed on the website so that the transport authorities in other states can access the information. The cops should maintain a record of e-mails and initiate appropriate action against the offenders and interrogate the owner of the vehicle for allowing a fake licence holder to drive.
He also suggested that MACT should ensure the presence of the driver, the owner and the victim and direct the insurance company to give compensation as immediate help to the victim’s family. The court issued notice to the insurance company and the ministry of road and transport and fixed December 16 as the next date of hearing.

ACTION PLAN

To tackle the menace of fake licences, HC has formed a panel to consider these:
Special police cell for fake driving licences
Control cell to maintain digital records on fake licence
Cell to look for “patterns” to find offenders
Police to weigh option of making information available to transport authority
Frame strict law to provide severe punishment for offenders
Removal of unsafe vehicles and obstructions from the road

Source-http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOINEW/navigator.asp?Daily=CAP&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&AW=1260508924156

Read more...

Overspeeding accounts for over 50% of road accidents(Times of India,December10,2009)

New Delhi: Exceeding the lawful speed limit is the single biggest reason for road accidents . According to a submission by the road, transport and highways ministry (MoRTH) in Lok Sabha, overspeeding is responsible for over 51% of road accidents whereas driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs is the reason for 5% of road mishaps.
In a written reply, minister of state Mahadev Khandela said in Rajya Sabha that there was an increase in the percentage of road mishaps due to overspeeding. While in 2004, 1,98,72 accidents out of 4,29,910 were due to overspeeding , it shot up to 2,47,371 in 2007 out of the total road accidents of 4,79,216.
Significantly, the ministers reply also highlights the increasing share of pedestrians , cyclists and two-wheeler drivers in the fatalities during 2004-07 . While the share of these three groups as a percentage of total persons killed in road accidents was 29.5%, it touched 40.2% in 2007. This data excludes road accidents in Delhi.
However, traffic experts feel that singling out any one factor for road mishaps is premature since there is no proper investigation of these accidents . In yet another written reply, Khandela informed the Lok Sabha that Tamil Nadu registered the highest number of accidents on national highways with 19,910 in 2007. Maharashtra came second (13,563), followed by Karnataka (13,310) and Andhra Pradesh (13,040).
Interestingly, the ministrys submission claimed that the number of road mishaps on NHs had slipped in 2007.


http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=15&edlabel=CAP&mydateHid=10-12-2009&pubname=&edname=&articleid=Ar01502&format=&publabel=TOI

Read more...