Road accidents are no less than a disaster for families facing such circumstances. In a globalized and fast -paced world, everyone strives to accomplish their tasks as soon as possible and thus collectively believes in reducing the time taken to finish their chores. This ideology is displayed on the streets where there is a regular occurrence of rash, unruly driving, which violates multiple laws completely. This is visible in the rising trends of road accidents in India, which are often caused by overspeeding or overtaking without proper procedure.
The current road and safety laws are governed by the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, which lays down vehicular movement and ownership procedures. The act is a comprehensive one undergoing several amendments, with the recent one being in the year 2019. The recent amendment has brought in multiple rules regarding the quality of vehicles, competence of driving skills, and hiking fines whenever a rule is violated. The act’s scope is ever-increasing and must be kept in accordance with that of the growing world. The act, though highlights multiple issues of the Indian road systems should also act similarly with stringent laws and penalty applications.
Road Safety isn’t only a rider’s responsibility but also the government’s duty. The objective of a safer transportation environment can only be achieved if both the government and the general public, take mutual responsibility and work in consonance with each other. The conditions of roads are an important and determinant fact in providing safety to commuters, and is the intrinsic duty of a government to maintain it. The maintenance and preservation of roads are not limited to the conditions and planning of roads but also to put up proper road signs, setting up warning signals for drivers, erecting street lights for commuters, and creating safer passage lines for bicycle riders and similar other activities. Bad roads account for a very high percentage of accidents which, when coupled with speeding, results in the rise of the fatality rates in case of an accident. Potholes, slippery roads, and the use of low-quality materials in the construction of roads are menace for commuters turning up to be the primary reasons for road accidents.
In order to counter such cases legally, one can prosecute the responsible departments for such instances and receive compensation for the damages. While such cases are infrequently pursued through the legal path in India, they are generally pursued immediately in the USA, where the legal solid action often leads to the betterment of roads and proper receiving of compensation. To provide legal discourse to the victims of such incidents, the Government of India and NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) have started to encourage them to file FIRs immediately, which would lead the responsible authorities to work as soon as possible and maintain the roads for the betterment of the commuters. Similarly, to protect the passengers in case of accidents, it should be made mandatory for a motor vehicle manufacturing company to introduce minimum safety standards and measures in all the base model vehicles, which would be possible only through government orders. This measure would ensure a higher degree of safety for travellers in case of an accident. Similarly, the regular check-up of vehicles should also be made compulsory for both the private and public modes of transportation to ensure the fitness to run on the roads.
In the event of an accident, the bystanders usually avoid helping the injured person due to the fear of legal actions and proceedings they are to be
burdened with. Fortunately, the case of SaveLife Foundation v Union of India questioned this archaic and obsolete legal procedure, wherein a person lost his life due to lack of treatment or basic first aid provision to him as a repercussion of legal action being undertaken against anyone who involves in helping the wounded person. Interestingly, the absence of any basic first aid treatment during that critical time is increasing the rate of fatality in road accidents. The Supreme Court of India undertook a critical decision that bid adieu to such circumstances by introducing the Good Samaritan Law. The law has helped many people who faced such a grave decision by providing the bystanders with legal immunity in case they tried to provide first aid to the hurt person. While this law is beneficial, the general public lacks any awareness about such rules and often ignores the conditions of an accident sufferer. They still fear legal proceedings to be issued against them and hence do not act as a result of it. Thus, after the implementation of the law arrives, the popularisation and awareness programs related to it need to be undertaken by the government agencies to decrease the loss of life further.
Finally, the burden of road safety falls upon the general public and commuters. To discourage the public from violating any road safety laws, the punishment given to any violator must be stringent. This has been effectively established in multiple cases wherein deaths caused by rash driving with the presence of just mere knowledge amounted to culpable homicide. The implementation of high fine rates and penalties has proven successful in various countries. Its similar application in India may also prove beneficial for commuters who would avoid breaking road safety laws and directly decrease any chance of road-related mishaps. The time has come that we should work together so that no life is lost on the road.
