Parking enforcement and its influence on accidents

 PARKING ENFORCEMENT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON ACCIDENTS

• The rapid urbanisation and infrastructural development that have given rise to economic growth and population explosion that have in-turn triggered a plethora of other issues. Parking is one of the most important issues from among those.
• New Motor Vehicle Act of 2019 imposes heavy fines on people who park their vehicles improperly or illegally.

According to the New Motor Vehicle Act of 2019, the following activities are illegal with respect to parking:

• • Abandoning or parking vehicle/trailer at a public place where it may cause obstruction, inconvenience, or puts other people in danger
  • Parking in the no parking zone or places in which parking is prohibited
  • Parking on footpaths or far away from the footpaths
  • On private properties without the owner’s consent
  • On the main road or roads with high-speed traffic
  • On the wrong side of the roadOn the path that has unbroken white lines in the centre
  • In front of the entrance of any premises
  • Near bus stops, schools, or hospital entrances
  • In front of any road signs that could possibly be obstructed with your vehicle
  • Near road crossings, a bend, top of a hill, or near/and on the bridge
  • Near any traffic signal or pedestrian crossings 

  Study on the effect of hefty fines on the  number of traffic accidents and fatalities reveals that it is short-lived and ineffective. The government assumed that imposing fines would make the drivers more careful thereby reducing accidents. Initially road accidents declined but the deterrence effect of penalties was short-lived. One of the causative factors was inability to introduce the law uniformly throughout the country. It was observed that there was an increase in death due to dangerous driving and over-speeding.

  Higher traffic density was assumed to be one of the factors contributing to increased accidents despite imposition of hefty fines. Highways are the deadliest of all roads. The risk on highways is mitigated through electronic enforcement which is mandated by the motor vehicles act. However, the problem lies in non-uniform implementation across the country.