A day after the last session of the current Lok Sabha, the Road Safety Network has written to the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to bring Ordinance on Road Safety.
The Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, 2017 that sought to carry out the much-required overhaul of the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 had received the assent of the Lok Sabha on April 10, 2017 and was introduced for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha in the Winter Session of 2017. However, after the failure to get the Bill passed, the network has urged the Government to take the extraordinary measure of issuing an ordinance to save lives.
“The Government had committed to bringing a strong road safety law since 2014 and many statements of the Minister indicated his commitment to reduce road casualties. Since his efforts in Parliament to pass the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill has failed to garner support, we urge the Minister to bring Ordinance in interim period on this important issue so that lives can be saved,” said Ashim Sanyal of Consumer Voice.
He said regrettably India has the dubious distinction of being world number one in road crash deaths and every year nearly 1.5 lakh people are killed in road crashes and another five lakh are severely injured, many of them disabled for life.
