India rung in the New Year with a two-day nationwide strike over a new hit-and-run law. The law decrees that hit-and-runs would be punishable by up to 10 years in prison, or a maximum fine of $8,405. The law is poised to replace the Indian Penal Code under which an accidental killing in a road accident carries a maximum of two years imprisonment.
Tensions were quelled when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government assured protesting truck, bus and tanker operators the law would be implemented only after consulting with unions.
Although India accounts for just 1% of the global vehicular population, it tops the world in road accident-related deaths. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ 2022 data shows hit-and-run cases accounted for the second-largest share of total accidental deaths at 18.1%. While hit-and-runs claim about 50,000 lives a year in India, road-related deaths from trucks or lorries make up only 11.3% of the total.
The ruling BJP party argues that "these new laws are designed to save more lives in road accidents and will apply to all vehicles." However, protesting drivers believe India's new hit-and-run law is biased against larger vehicles. The law is likely to disproportionately affect truck drivers who, according to a study by SaveLIFE Foundation, average nearly 12 hours on the road and some 260 miles each day. The opposition Congress party gave support to the protests, saying people could misuse the legislation to commit extortion and corruption.
"The law certainly needs to take into account the views of major stakeholders, that is the truck drivers," Byram Dhalla director of B.D. Dhalla Transport told Fox News Digital. "Truckers are most vulnerable to the application of this law, if only because they spend the most time on the roads," he pointed out. Furthermore, trucking businesses contend that the more draconian rules could dissuade drivers from the already dwindling profession.
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Initially slated for three days, the strikes resulted in a disruption of supply chains as well as immense road blockages, traffic jams and sporadic violence. The brief but massive protests also led to long gas pump lines as people began panic-buying fuel. The thousands of gas stations that were running out of fuel have begun to stabilize today.
India’s northwestern and western states were especially impacted by the turmoil. The BJP began talks with the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) on Tuesday, ending the upheaval. The AIMTC union estimated the strikes caused about $12 million loss of trade per day.
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The AIMTC is now working toward gaining more clarity on what constitutes rash or negligent driving as well as how an accused driver should inform authorities. Truckers also insist the government must take into consideration the risk of irate mob violence if drivers attempt to transport the injured to hospitals.
"Truck drivers are always the soft target, irrespective of fault lying in their actions or otherwise," remarked Dhalla. "All in all, the law needs a lot of careful thought and assurance of comfort to the driver fraternity."
