The High Court of Uttarakhand has ordered a ban on fitting high beams on vehicles. All such additional lights apart from the headlights should be removed without delay, the court directed. According to the case details, advocate Shashank Upadhyay had filed a public interest litigation in the high court stating that people are installing high beam lights on their vehicles which is a violation of the Motor Vehicle Act.
Due to such high beam lights, the drivers of vehicles coming from the opposite direction are often temporarily blinded by the glare. This often leads of motor accidents during the night time but neither the Government nor the administration are taking any action on this issue. The petitioner had stated that majority of the accidents caused during the night time were being caused by the glare of high beams affecting the vision of other drivers. The authorities were neither taking action against this nor undertaking any effort to raise public awareness on the dangers of using high beam. Hearing on the petition, the high court directed the government to prohibit high beam lights. The high court also directed the deputy inspector generals of Garhwal and Kumaon regions to publicise the ill-effects of using high beams through newspapers and television channels so as to generate public awareness on the issue. Additionally, action should also be taken to remove the high beams already installed on vehicles. Challan should also be issued against such vehicles under the Motor Vehicle Act, the court directed. After hearing the matter, the high court division bench of chief justice KM Joseph and justice Alok Singh disposed of the case.