No sleep lost over the proposed traffic fines!

As per the latest press release on the amendment of the Motor Vehicle act,very soon talking over mobile phones while driving can lead to a fine of Rs 500 and the subsequent violations can be as high as Rs 5,000. Jumping red lights or not using seat belts and helmets may attract fines between Rs 500 and Rs 1,500. And even more dreadful,drunk driving will be graded according to alcohol levels in the blood with a punishment that can go up to a two-year jail term and Rs 5,000 fine or both.

Ideally these strict violation norms should make the mavericks of the road lose their sleep, provide a bonanza to the government in terms of high revenues and eventually reduce the chaos on the already overcrowded roads. But unfortunately, nothing of this sort will happen! One might feel a bit scared while reading about these stricter penalties for the first time but the moment you are on the road the much talked about 'common sense' will continue to vanquish. Obviously government's intent is commendable in the fact that it is serious about bringing down the accidents on the road by a big margin but quite evidently the implementation plan is very lousy.

So, even if the existing fine of Rs 100 is hiked to Rs 500, not many will think twice before trying their luck on making a quick 10 sec call while driving. Simply because they are doubly sure that even if they are caught offending, the cop on duty will let them off with the customary Rs 50 note and if the crime is griever one, a Rs 100 note or for that matter a Rs 500 note will do the trick and settle things. And unfortunately this will hold true under this new 'fine regime' as well. This is because the cop sees no incentive for himself under the revised penal code, he is by no means benifitted by this five fold increase in the penalty.

Naturally, to substantiate this commendable initiative the government should also at the same time improve their implementation approach. And the first step that needs to be taken in this regards is the fact that the cop on the street should be duly rewarded for every offender he is catching hold of. Now how to reward the cop can be an altogether different debate, for instance the cop on the duty can be marked with a straight 20%( even 10% or 30% also) cut of the actually penal income that's coming the government's way. Such incentives will at least force the cops to refrain from the corrupt ways and in turn will also force the public to follow the rules in a much stricter manner.

Another avenue where the government can invest is the improvement of technology in identifying the law breakers. This will not only reduce the human intervention and thereby corruption but will also aid in imposing these rules and consequently the hefty fines in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, where every cop is either your friend, relative or neighbor and hence lets you go just like that. So, if we have a very good technology in place, it will capture all the breaches by the click of a camera and the offender will have to go the nearest office to pay for his crime.

So a little more thinking on the government's part can make our roads a much better place to ride, drive and walk. But we the people need to think a lot more to actually contribute in minimizing this exponentially rising chaos on the roads. And it's actually very elementary! Compulsive honking can't make the traffic move faster, jumping a red light won't save you an hour, wearing a seat belt is not at all geek-ish &unfashionable and even one peg can make hell lot of difference to you and many others on the road.

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