Memes on new Motor Vehicle act lead to ‘traffic jam’ on social media

Since the Lok Sabha passed the Motor Vehicles ( Amendment) Bill 2019 it has turned into fodder for the ever brewing meme factory. �Under the hashtag #TrafficViolation #NewTrafficRules is trending and social media platforms are flooded with memes on the new traffic rules.�

However, all this started after the news about a man in Gurugram being fined Rs 23,000 for violating the newly amended Motor Vehicles Act went viral. The man identified as Dinesh Madan was fined Rs 23,000 by the West Zone traffic police for driving without helmet and for not carrying his Registration Certificate (RC).

The Motor Vehicle act Bill 2019 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 15, 2019 by the road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, which sought to amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for road safety. �The Act provides for grant of licenses and permits related to motor vehicles, standards for motor vehicles, and penalties for violation of these provisions.

According to the amended Motor Vehicles Act, those who violate traffic rules will have to pay heavy fines for offenses like no-helmet driving, drunk-driving, over-speeding, no-seatbelt, jumping red-lights, wrong parking etc.

Meanwhile, Telangana government is yet to implement the amended Motor Vehicles Act and is waiting for the government to official pass an order. Hyderabad traffic commissioner Anil Kumar told Newsmeter, ''We definitely welcome the move by government as the fear of law is very important and only then will people follow it. In western countries also penalties are very high that is why their citizens follow it. Indians follow the rules when they go abroad out of fear only. In foreign countries since childhood they see people following the rules so they also follow. Once the government issues an official order then it will be implemented in the state".

Mr Vinod Kumar Kanumala, a road safety expert told the Newsmeter, “Even though the bill has been passed but majority of the southern states are yet to implement it. Karnataka has implemented as it is a BJP ruled state. In fact all BJP ruled states have already implemented the new traffic rules. �Telangana government has constituted a committee that consist of the RTO commissioner, and non-technical members to implement the new traffic rules. But the committee members have no experience or exposure in road safety. They committee has been constituted to make a report on court procedures and compounding fees. Once they submit the report to the CM they will implement the new rules.”