Seat belt violations on buses on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway have halved, while trucks on the old Mumbai-Pune highway have shown a 10% increase in seat belt compliance. These were some of the findings of a study conducted by Save Life Foundation after the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 was implemented.

The study was conducted on three roads, one in Delhi and two in Mumbai — the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the old Mumbai-Pune highway. Observations of 1,190 vehicles were recorded before the implementation of the Act on August 29 and 1,294 vehicles post implementation on September 11.

Overloading reduced

The study also said seatbelt compliance amongst cars remained more-or-less the same on Mumbai-Pune highways, while a 10% increase in compliance was observed among bus drivers on the old Mumbai-Pune highway. On the Mumbai-Pune Expressway overloading on buses seemed to have increased by four percentage points, while overloading violations on trucks saw a big drop from 13% to 3.3%.

“The awareness generated by the notification of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 has positively influenced the behaviour of road users. We expect this to improve enforcement of and compliance with the new law. This will also lead to a reduction in road fatalities across India, said Piyush Tewari, CEO, SaveLIFE Foundation.

The new Act has increased the quantum of punishment for traffic violations. The penalty for not wearing a helmet has been increased to ₹1,000 from ₹100. However, several States, including Maharashtra, have asked for a rollback on some of the provisions of the Act.

State Transport Minister Diwakar Raote last week termed the new fines ‘exorbitant’ and said he had written to Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari requesting a reduction in fines.