NEW DELHI: Amid rising pedestrian deaths in road accidents in the past few years — over 1.4 lakh lost their lives in the five years from 2019 to 2023 — the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed govts to hold officials and contractors personally liable in cases of pedestrian deaths caused due to infrastructural or design issues.The SC, in its order, directed the authorities to invoke Section 198A of Motor Vehicle Act in such cases. The provision introduced in 2019 says that where failure on the part of designated authority, contractor, consultant or concessionaire responsible for complying with standards for road design, construction and maintenance, results in death or disability, such authority or contractor or concessionaire shall be punishable with a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh.However, there has not been a single instance when this provision was enforced and any penalty imposed in the past six years. “The directive to hold people accountable is important as at present it’s easy to pass the buck. But to enforce this, there must be a proper scientific investigation into any crash,” said a road safety expert.The court’s directive for establishment of a simple and effective online grievance redressal mechanism by the landowning agencies to deal with complaints pertaining to lack of maintenance of footpaths and the requirement of pedestrian crossings is also crucial considering there is no such system in place at present. The SC has also directed the authorities to respond to complaints within a specified timeframe and ensure that the issue is resolved in a time-bound manner.“The grievance redressal system must incorporate a review mechanism by higher authorities, to be invoked in cases where the complainant is not satisfied with the resolution provided,” the order said.Taking cognizance of accidents caused by wrong-lane driving, the court directed state transport departments, traffic police authorities and urban local bodies to enforce lane discipline by using automated cameras, graduated fines, coloured and textured lane markings, dynamic lighting, rumble strips and tyre killers at critical accident-prone points.The court has also instructed the road transport ministry, state transport departments and traffic police authorities to prescribe maximum permissible luminance and beam angles for vehicle headlights and ensure compliance through checks during PUC testing and vehicle fitness certification, and conduct targeted drives to penalise non-compliant or modified headlights.“A complete ban on unauthorised red–blue strobe flashing lights and illegal hooters shall be enforced through seizure, market crackdowns and penalties,” it said.
