Striking against safety?

 On the one hand is the energetic lobbying by activists for stringent fines and more transparent licensing process. No dispute with that. The Bill also includes a fund for cashless treatment during the ‘golden hour’ after the mishap and compulsory fitness tests for private vehicles as well. It also proposes to fine companies for deviating from standards for the construction and maintenance of roads and do away with the unhealthy trend of stratospheric compensation for victims. However, something is obviously not right when so many actors combine to protest the Bill.

As they are the ones who keep the wheels greased and moving, their perception about the ground situation is much better than that of private car and two-wheeler owners. Their basic fear is the high penalties will spur the police and road transport staff to commensurately increase the graft rate and harassment. The key to lower accidents is awareness. Not just among heavy vehicles, as the Bill proposes by fines and jail terms, but pedestrians and cyclists as well who account for one-third of the deaths. This has to be accompanied by enforcement of at least the existing rules rather than playing the music of stringent fines. The need to tighten things is undisputed. But India has not done too badly either. Its fatality rate is better than that of Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa with which it is compared on economic and social development indicators.