Changes to 'Motor Vehicle Act' vehemently opposed

Hyderabad: The bill that makes amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act 1988 that was passed by the Lok Sabha and tabled in the Rajya Sabha is being vehemently opposed by the opposition. One of the main concerns is the removal of minimum educational qualification for obtaining a transport licence, which is currently Class 8. 

Some road safety experts said that a minimum educational qualification with vocational training on road safety or driving skill improvement should be made mandatory for drivers to get exposed to the basics of safe driving. Some experts said that there is no need of a minimum educational qualification but suggested that a separate procedure for getting the transport licence combined with training is sufficient.

The minimum qualification and basic knowledge are compulsory for a professional driver. They should be able to read road signs. Dheere-ndra Samineni, road safety trainer said, “In this era where technology is increasing day by day, it will be difficult to understand technology if they don't have even basic education.”

Experts say that 70 per cent of the total road accidents are due to human error. In the present scenario, to rectify that, it is mandatory to have basic education. Laxman Rao, professor of transportation engineering, JNTU Hyder-abad, said, “Training is essential for a driver to understand the pattern in which brakes work as braking distance will vary depending on the  the vehicle. Distance judgement and recovery time or reaction time requires skill combined with knowledge.” 

In order to know all the technical details, training is essential for the driver. To understand signs, distance judgement and other things, a driver needs to be exposed to training and counselling. The knowledge gaining process also requires a minimum educational qualification. Mr Rao said, “Vocational training in road safety and driving skill improvement should be given in vocational training institutes, where a driver should be exposed to reaction time and psychological tracking. This might be one of the options. Vocational training in these aspects would be advisable.”

Vinod Kumar, of Indian Federation of Road Safety says that in the past, qualification for drivers was not a concern. Now, they have at least Standard 10 or 12 education.  He said, “I don’t think there is a need for an educational criterion for driving. It is more than enough that we give training when a driver is applying for a licence for a transport vehicle.”

One should possess sound knowledge regarding the basic technical aspects of the vehicle.