The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : MTC's unruly drivers come under the scanner

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 16, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

MTC's unruly drivers come under the scanner

L. Srikrishna

Fast track courts to deal with accident cases, greater compensation suggested "Transport corporation officials should also expose drivers who are rash and undisciplined"

CHENNAI : Jumping signals. Violating traffic rules. Rash driving. Honking to intimidate road users. The list of complaints against MTC drivers seems endless.

Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) drivers in the city are under the scanner now following a spate of fatal and non-fatal accidents in the past few months.

Though punishments are awarded, it is widely felt that the penalties should be made more stringent and justice delivered more speedily.

With traffic violations are on the rise in the metropolis, people feel that fast track courts should be opened for quick disposal of cases and speedy justice.

Road safety activists suggest that mere disciplinary action against erring MTC drivers is insufficient, for it does not really act as a deterrent

They point to the mental agony and trauma of the victims. Worse, when the breadwinner is killed in an accident, the dependents are helpless, while the drivers go scot-free after a few months.

One activist says the system of compensation to the victims or to the families in the event of a death should be enhanced in the larger public interest.

Abudu Kumar Rajarathinam, a practising lawyer here, recalls an accident case in which two people were killed. A lower court fined the MTC driver. However, when he approached the Madras High Court on appeal against the order, the HC not only enhanced the compensation, but suo motu punished the driver by sentencing him to a year in jail. Such actions would send the right signal, he says.

Another advocate suggests that courts can endorse their remarks on the driving licence of any erring driver or delegate an appropriate authority to do so. This would make the drivers more careful in future.

When public transport corporation officials honour employees for accident free driving, they should also expose drivers who were rash and undisciplined, he says.

A police officer says the traffic police register cases against erring MTC drivers, and over 50 per cent of the cases result in convictions by the courts, which impose fines.

But when there is a delay, the police are helpless as it may pave the way for acquittal of the case, he said. The judiciary should not differentiate between a murder case accused and a death caused due to rash and negligent driving. Whether it is Section 302 IPC or 304 A IPC, the death entails a great loss to the dependents. If such an approach is followed, it would bring down road related accidents, a litigant in Chennai who lost his father in an accident, says.

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