“Many a times vehicles being driven even at a reasonable speed while negotiating a pothole or a bad stretch of road lose balance and cause accident, grievous hurt or loss of life. Yet the proposed draft on Road Safety Bill does not propose the punishment of municipal officers responsible for the ill-maintained road”
The experiences of many road accident victims and the examination of many a cases has exposed the following facts:-
(a) That CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT HIGHWAY or MUNICIPAL OFFICERS ALWAYS ESCAPE UNSCATHED
POTHOLES exist because of criminal negligence
(b) That Often the POLICE MANIPULATE THE FIR & SOMETIMES BLACKMAIL THE VICTIM such that the facts that come out before the world are quite different from the actual ground reality
(c) 3yr old Pavitra’s case OFFERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPOSE LIVE ON AIR how the police insensitively work against the victims of road accident
(d) This debate will further BRING OUT THE RELUCTANCE OF THE POLICE IN PROSECUTING negligent officers both because of lack of WILL & knowledge
(e) That the CM WINDOW operating atleast in Faridabad is AS A JOKE on the common man
(f) That there is an urgent need to expand and elaborate Section 316 of the proposed draft where punishments should be clearly specified for various types of negligence be it of the municipal / highway engineers for non maintenance or traffic cops for not barricading unusable stretches
SOME MORE POINTERS FROM THE CASE STUDY USED:
1)Following Manoj’s case as a NGO, we examined the draft of the Road Safety Bill and were shocked to find that the proposed draft has missed one of the most important points and that is to prescribe punishment for Engineers or Officers of the Municipal Agency responsible to maintain the roads in good condition and keep it POTHOLE FREE.
2)Many a times vehicles being driven even at a reasonable speed while negotiating a pothole or a bad stretch of road lose balance and cause accident, grievous hurt or loss of life. In such cases too in our country instead of punishing the officers responsible for the ill-maintained road, it is often the Vehicle driver who gets punished for negligence.
3)Here’s the link to 3yr old Pavitra’s unfortunate story about how this angel lost his life because of a pothole on the National Highway at Batamod, Faridabad.
4)The progress of the campaign #Justice4Pavitra is available on our page JNSS.IN
5)Our campaign #Justice4Pavitra shared the story over the social media, got the public to send dozens of mailers to the Commissioner of Police, Faridabad, interacted with the Police at the highest level in the district, was aired on radio manav rachna 107.8, offered case studies & legal advice to the Police, organized a very successful CANDLE MARCH and is now backed by most NGOs in Faridabad.
The proposed road ahead: Considering the fact that the roads that we or our dear ones travel on for work, play or study ought to be made safer, we have decided to do the following: 1.Organize an early debate or discussion on anyone of the leading TV channels to expose the shortcomings that particularly surfaced in Pavitra’s case 2.Approach as many Members of Parliament through one to one meetings, letters, social media and through various discussion forums to get them to ensure that the road safety bill is tabled at the earliest as also the provisions of Section 316 are elaborated as already suggested 3.To bring together as many road accident victims as possible to share and understand the challenges they faced in their respective cases and to incorporate (if possible) the resolutions suggested in the proposed road safety bill 4.To form a dedicated community (if possible) that would not only understand how the proposed law translates in spirit and practice but also ensures its effective implementation
Whether you are a road accident victim awaiting justice or you want to support this initiative to ensure safer roads for yourself and your dear ones, we invite you to call us at 888-201-0002 or write to us
Jnssindia's Blog 