Let it be jail for traffic offenders

It’s better late than never. The axiom came to my mind the moment I heard state transport commissioner Deepak Kapoor’s announcement that those caught using mobile phones while driving would forfeit their licence for good.

This should have happened long ago in a state plagued by high accident figures that mostly find root in scant respect for traffic rules. Imagine Rule 21 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, as per the procedure laid down in Section 19 of Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, which says that a driver can be disqualified for using a mobile phone in any form, including making or receiving calls, sending messages, playing games, listening to music,
taking photos or making videos. Well, it took over two decades for punitive action to follow.

For a Mumbaikar — a motorist or a pedestrian — it isn’t exactly music to the ears that figures for Mumbai are the highest in case of motor accidents. In 2008, Mumbai registered 29,780 road accidents, as against a state figure of 75,520, which means one-third of the accidents occurred in the megapolis alone. Know what? I think we live in a society which treats human life as an expendable commodity.

What else would justify offences like drunken driving which has claimed scores of lives over the years and perpetrators — those well-connected in particular — have managed to bend the law with impunity?

I am reminded of an incident that happened years ago in England, when my friend Dev was coming from Tottenham to drop me and two other colleagues in Hunsalow (west).

All of us were high on spirits, including Dev, who was on the wheels and constantly conversing on his mobile phone. Suddenly, a night police patrol stopped our car on the Great West Road that joins central London to Hunsalow.

No amount of cajoling (including Dev’s diatribe on racial discrimination) could deter the cops from booking Dev. While all others were dropped at their respective destinations by the  cops, Dev was taken to the nearest police station and produced in the court the next day. His driving licence was impounded for two years for talking on the mobile phone while driving and he was fined 1,400 pounds for abusing the cops and sent to a seven-day suspended imprisonment for drunken driving.

Yes, such nerves of steel are required to lend more strength to our antiquated traffic laws to foster respect for human life. Globally, the traffic department works in a focussed manner, unlike our traffic department which spends most of the time saluting political leaders.

What we need today is a wholesome perspective. What we have hitherto concentrated on are the police and the public (read offenders). What we now need is to bring other agencies related to road traffic, like licence authority, registration authority, road tax authority, insurance agencies and even car sellers, into the picture and involve them in putting a leash on careless driving. There should be a unique identification number issued to every motorist which would have all data pertaining to all past offences, if any.

Offences must be graded, say for the first, the penalty may be fine, for the second, the insurance agency may be informed which could lead to a steep premium hike from a potentially dangerous offender and for the third offence, it could be a jail term. Incarceration has often proved to be a strong deterrent, especially in case of drunken driving.

Road safety laws in Mumbai need a major shakeup. Loopholes must be plugged and corruption among law-enforcers contained. One must understand that road mishaps are a global reality and will happen. The idea is to devise an effective strategy to bring them down to the minimum.