Are you not worried about deaths of 1.5 lakh people: Gadkari after Gujarat cuts traffic fine

New Delhi, Sep 11: Amid backlash over hefty traffic fines being levied under the new Motor Vehicles Act, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday defended government's move and said that it would help reduce accidents in the country.

"This isn't a revenue income scheme, are you not worried about the deaths of 1,50,000 people? If the state governments want to reduce this, is it not true that people neither follow law nor have fear of it," he said.

Post imposition of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019, from September 1, hefty challans for traffic rules violations by the police has hit the headlines.

While the new act stipulated a fine of Rs 1,000 for riding without a helmet, the Gujarat government on Tuesday finalised the amount at Rs 500. Similar is the case with driving a four-wheeler without wearing a seat-belt.

The penalty for driving without a licence has been brought down from Rs 5,000, as suggested by the new act, to Rs 2,000 for two-wheelers and Rs 3,000 for four-wheelers.