Telangana Transport Department to Enforce Stricter Penalties for Negligent and Rash Drivers

Hyderabad:The transport department is going to hand out stringent punishments for the negligent and rash drivers. They will be using the provisions of the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019, which give power to the transport department or other authorities concerned to cancel licences of negligent drivers.

Sources said no vehicle will be registered in their name in case of repeated offences. Even after cancelation, if the persons are spotted driving on the roads, criminal charges will be imposed on them.

Transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Friday said the driving licence (DL) issuing process will be stricter as the department will implement the provisions of the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act, 2019.

About 1.6 lakh people die every year in India due to road accidents. In Telangana, about 20 people die every day in the road accidents. Minister Prabhakar said the state government was working to make its roads safer and drivers more responsible.

According to the new MV Act, if a person is convicted of an offense punishable under Section 185 of the Act for the second time and subsequent times, the court must cancel the DL. As the minister is focusing on the safety of school buses, the department officials have been conducting sudden inspections across the state.

To give an indication of the tough provisions of the amended law, the deputy transport department in Visakhapatnam has confiscated 837 driving licenses and registered 2,500 cases for helmet violations. Officials said the licences of those caught violating the helmet law would be suspended for three months. The process of canceling licenses was underway, and the licenses of the remaining 2,500 violators will be revoked soon.

An official said that first-time offenders face a three-month suspension, which will increase to six months in case of a second offence. Third-time offenders will have vehicles seized and licenses cancelled for one year.