Driving License & Vehicle Registration

General Recommendations

No guns be allowed in personal vehicles

The Committee notes that road rage is one of the daily phenomena happening in metropolitan cities and urban areas. Many a time, in road rage, licensed guns are used to kill persons. This is happening mainly because licensed guns are carried by persons in the vehicles without any restriction. The Committee, therefore, recommends that licenses to fire arms may be restricted in such a way that it should not be carried while traveling in personal Motor Vehicles in Metropolitan cities and urban areas where traffic jam is the order of the day.

Inclusion of Traffic and road safety education in school curricula

The committee notes that there is a need to educate the students about the traffic laws, rules and regulations. In many cases the drivers and vehicle owners are not aware of the extant rules and regulations related to lane driving, overtaking, speed limit, wearing of helmets, seat belts, sounding of horn, free passages to ambulances and police vehicles, parking of vehicles, alighting of passengers, driving under influence of liquor and drugs, overloading, obeying signals and signage etc. The Committee, therefore, recommends that traffic and road safety education must be made a compulsory part of the school education upto the 12th Standard throughout India. The Curriculum may contain general awareness of traffic rules, existing motor vehicle laws, rules, regulations, messages of Govt authorities on road safety etc. Causes of accidents, impact of accidents on families and society, economic and social cost of accidents etc should also be made part of the curriculum.

The road safety education should impart knowledge, skills and understanding of road safety and road safety behavior. The curriculum should also enable the students to better understand the risks associated with road use and to also develop an appreciation for the reasons for many of the laws and regulations in place to protect the drivers, passengers and commuters. Student should learn and understand and practice road safety and safe road uses.

Education needs to take centre-stage as technology and the challenges of driving evolve. The students should be evolved as better driver when they get a driving license as future citizens. We should evolve them as personally and socially responsible road users. If we are educating the children we may be educating a generation of people.

Restriction of Heavy vehicles during early morning

The Committee is of the view that the commercial vehicles play a pivotal role in the field of commerce and trade and also is an integral part of the country‟s economy. The Committee feels that the drivers who are the backbone of running the transport system in the country is not a secured lot from any angle whether it is their salary, job condition, working hours, life insurance etc. They are directed to drive the vehicles for many days or weeks single handedly. The Committee notes that driving the heavy vehicles for longer duration during the night causes fatigue to drivers and due to work pressure and lack of driver‟s concentration many a times causes accidents. Moreover, heavy vehicles and trucks are causing major accidents during wee hours. The Committee, therefore, recommends thatthe government should strictly implement the duty hours for the drivers of commercial vehicles and also prohibit the driving of commercial vehicles from 3.00 AM to 5.00 AM in the morning. The Committee also recommends that movement of heavy commercial vehicles may be regulated in the early morning in such a way that the commercial vehicles carrying/ supplying movement of vegetables, milk and perishable food products are not affected. The Committee further recommends that the Government should make it mandatory for the transporters to depute two drivers on a Heavy commercial vehicle having more than two axles to drive the vehicle alternately if the vehicle has to cover a distance of more than 500kms. The Government may take suitable action to amend the appropriate Law/Rules to implement the recommendations.

Lane Segregation

Another aspect noticed by the Committee is that there is no separate lane or segregation of vehicles on roads. Every kind of traffic from bicycle to two wheelers, three wheelers to LMVs, Tempos and Trucks to mega sized vehicles are using the same lanes of the roads at their whims and fancies and no one is following any lane driving or following any segregated way of traffic movement. The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Government should lay down clear cut policies for segregation of different type of vehicles on specific lanes on the roads. This is possible in majority of our National Highways as these are multilane roads. Enforcement of lane driving should be given priority by the enforcement agencies.

Insurance manual and a concise traffic rule book

The vehicle manufacturers always supply a service manual with every new vehicle sold. The Committee recommends that an insurance manual which give details about available insurance products to enable the customers to compare different insurance products and choose the best, may be supplied along with the service manual. A concise traffic rules manual may also be supplied alongwith theService manual so that a driver can learn about the traffic rules and the fines and punishment associated with its violation.

National Road Safety Board

The broad aim of the Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill is to enhance road safety. Road safety is a complex resultant of road construction technology, motor vehicle technology and the upgradation of skills of road users both vehicle drivers and pedestrians. Mere enhancement of penalties will not solve the problem. There is a need to constitute a high powered road safety board and to ensure the availability of adequate funds for technologically upgrading and updating the standards. National road safety fund can be constituted with an additional cess on first time sales of new motor vehicles which could fund all these activities. The National Road Safety Board may contain representatives of both Central & State Governments. It should have adequate authority to guide the Government.