The Odisha police on Monday said that since September 6 they have arrested 426 people under the influence of alcohol under the new Motor Vehicle Act. The police have launched a special drive in order to detect the drunken driving on the national and state highways as per the provisions of the Section 185/202 of MV Act. This new drive will help curb the drunken driving incidents on the highways.

Odisha police's statement

According to reports, the Odisha police on Monday said, "Since September 6 we have arrested over 426 drunk drivers in Odisha. Last night we have checked around 5000 drivers and 141 among them were arrested for drunken driving. The people arrested belonged to various districts of Odisha."

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As per the new MV Act, if the alcohol content exceeds 30 mg per 100 ml of blood or the drug consumed, making the driver incapable of exercising proper control over the vehicle, the concerned driver will be arrested. After the arrest within two hours, the drivers will be subjected to a medical test by a registered medical practitioner for the purpose of collection of the specimen of his blood.

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Odisha Government May Approach The Centre For Amendments In MV Act

Leaders of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will be speaking to the Odisha government to approach the Centre to amend the new Motor Vehicles Act. Due to the protests by people over the hefty penalties for violations of traffic rules, BJD Spokesperson and MLA, PK Deb has said they will be talking to the government on September 8. The Odisha Transport Minister, Padmanabha Behera has asked the state government to relax the penalties if it is necessary. In response, the state government on Friday, announced relaxation in the norms of air and noise pollution under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 for a month. 

"A proposal will be sent to the Central government for bringing amendments in the act highlighting the concerns voiced by the people about its implementation," PK Deb said. 

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About the New Motor Vehicle Act

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019, came into effect from September 1, which was approved by the President on August 9, 2019. The government has notified 63 clauses in the Bill that deal with penalties, licences, registration and National Transport Policy, among others. The changes in the Bill imposes a hefty penalty for offences providing no specific penalty. For the first offence in the Act, the fine has increased from Rs 100 to Rs 500 and the subsequent offences from Rs 300 to Rs 1,500. A driver without a helmet will be fined Rs 1,000. The minimum fine for driving without a licence has been increased from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000, while the charge for driving despite disqualification has been increased to Rs 10,000.

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