According to the recent data released by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the underage drivers and those without licences are contributing massively in the road accidents. It’s worth mentioning here that India accounts for 5 lakh road accidents a year, one of the highest globally in which 1.5 lakh people lose their lives.
As many as 1.62 lakh road accidents were caused by underage drivers and those without licences between 2012 and 2014 with Uttar Pradesh topping the list with 31,925 road accident cases in the same period.
“Under-age drivers, below 18 years old, caused 60,793 accidents in the three years, while 1,01,953 accidents on the roads were caused by drivers without licenses,” Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Radhakrishnan told Rajya Sabha in a written reply on Monday.
With 17,768 cases of road mishap, the Samajwadi Party-ruled state has reported maximum number of road accidents caused by drivers without licences and 14,157 cases of accident were caused by those who were not even eligible to get driving licence in the state.
Madhya Pradesh, the largest state area wise, has registered 21,045 road accident cases between
2012 and 2014, which includes 12,625 cases caused by without licence drivers, while 8,420 incidents of road accidents were caused by underage drivers in the age-group of 0-17 years.
Andhra Pradesh is at third spot as the state has witnessed 15,438 road accidents caused by both drivers without license and underage between 2012 and 2014.
A total of 11,109 accidents had happened due to negligence of drivers without having licences and 4,329 mishaps had taken place when underage drivers behind the wheel.
Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has registered a total of 5,200 such cases in the mentioned period, while Bihar has witnessed 7,725 cases of road accidents. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have recorded 14,413 and 14,364 cases of road mishaps. The West Bengal has also registered 5,881 incidents of road accidents.
Given the fact that road accidents are very frequent in the national Capital, the ministry has not provided any data, while Lakshadweep has not reported any road accidents under this category.
On this issue, Radhakrishnan informed the House that Section 180 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides for punishment of imprisonment or fine or both for the offence of an owner or persons in-charge of vehicle permitting an unlicensed person or under-aged person to drive it.
He further added that Section 181 of the Act provides for punishment of imprisonment or fine or both for the offence of driving by an underaged person.