In a wake to punish the offenders driving on the roads, the penalty for the death due to drunken driving has now been increased to 7 years imprisonment by the government of India. Yes, that’s right! Seven years. If the person driving is intoxicated, and causes death under the influence of hard drinks, then he can now land up in jail for 7 years. Earlier, the penalty was 2 years jail for the same offense. The offender of drunken driving causing death will be booked under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with fine or fine.
Reason behind increasing penalty on death caused by drunken driving
The reason behind increasing the penalty on death caused by drunken driving is that the government wants to curb down the cases of drunken driving and the consequences it may cause. Lately, there have been several cases reported of road accidents that turned fatal for the victims. In a way, the government wishes to discourage people to stop driving when they are high on alcohol as they can risk others’ lives on the road. The government of India believes that such stringent law will reduce the number of such cases across India.
The penalty for the offense is increased when the Supreme Court called the quantum of punishment as absolutely inadequate for the offenders causing death when doing the drunken driving. Also, the recommendation on amending the years of imprisonment was made by the transport ministry who has directed trials on past offenders under culpable homicide but not under negligent driving.
More details other than penalty for drunken drivers
Apart from the penalty to offenders causing fatal road accidents, the government of India has made the ‘lifetime third party’ insurance mandatory for all cars that will now get registered under the Motor Vehicle Act 1988 when getting registered. This will be an annual insurance that can be renewed once in a year. Valid for 15 years, the lifetime third party car insurance will bring price hike.
We hope that the stringent laws and deterrent punishments will make a huge difference in the death toll that is caused by drunken driving on the roads every year.
Source: newsbyteapp.com
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