(Image source from: Harsher punishments in store for road-rule violators})

Watch out habitual offenders — the government is planning to come down heavy on you and take you to book for violating road rules.

In the wake of the tragic crash death of Union Minister Gopinath Munde in a road accident apparently caused by an over-speeding car that had jumped a traffic light, the BJP led NDA government has decided to hard-line the road rules and hand out harsher punishments to those who erred them.

Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has pledged to come down heavily on violators, irrespective of their status and standing. Not just that, the newly elected transport minister has also declared that any offender committing three consecutive violations would lose his/her driving license for six months, while a habitual offender could be banned from driving for life. The minister also said that they will focus more on the black spots in the country where more than 10 accidents have happened in the past

Gadkari wants to rewrite the Motor Vehicle Bill as early as possible and introduce advanced international best-practices on road safety. The MV Act, which was last amended in 2012, put up stringent punishment and hefty fines for the violators.

According to the amended Act, if a driver is caught jumping a traffic signal, he would have to pay a fine of Rs 500 for the first offense. Further violations would warrant Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 fee each time. Those found guilty of drunken driving could face up to two years of imprisonment and shell out a fine of up to Rs 5,000.

Gadkari plans to re-draft the MV Amendment Bill and bring it in par with the existing traffic rules existing in countries like the US, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany and the UK.

The swift action comes within days after former Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde's died in a road accident in the national capital.

The minister deems that manual traffic management is not practical in metros like Delhi which require advanced systems for better traffic management.

Considering the need of intelligent traffic system in big cities battling heavy traffic, the new Bill will  step up road safety by installing CCTV cameras at all traffic signals as well as equipping heavy vehicles with safety features.

The new automated system is likely to have mechanism for centralising traffic data of violations to check rash drivers.

The draft Bill will be introduced in a month's time before the National Road Safety commission.

Here take a quick look at what the new MV Bill would focus at:

• The new Act would propose introducing CCTB cameras at all traffic signals and anyone violating the law will be issues challan within 24-hours.

• Heavy vehicle manufacturers will be asked to make design changes in their vehicles to incorporate safety requirements.

• Data for driving licenses will be centralised.

• In six months time, public transport vehicles plying in all the cities with over 10-lakh population will be fitted with advanced GPS tracking system.

AW: Suchorita Choudhury