The laws relating to motor Vehicles are governed by Motor Vehicle Act, 1988. Road accidents are rising in India day by day. There has been a vertical escalation of road accidents for past few years since the number of motor vehicles in India have increased to great extent. Road injuries and deaths have come up as a major public issue as it is one of the leading causes of death and permanent disability in this country. Over 90% of the road accidents are caused by rash or negligent driving. When a road accident takes place, it gives rise to both civil and criminal liabilities on the part of the driver. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 deal with issues related to road accidents.

Under the MV Act, it is the driver’s duty to stop vehicle and wait for a police officer for some time when he is involved in a road accident and injures any person, animal or causes damage to any other car or private or public property.

Section 134 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides for the things to do in case of injury to a person in a road accident. It is the duty of the driver or the person in charge of the vehicle to take the injured person to the nearest hospital unless he is unable to do so due to circumstances out of his control. Such a driver should provide all the information to the police as and when demanded.

In case there was no police near the area of accident, such incident should be reported to the nearest police station within 24 hours of the said accident. Information about the accident should be given to the insurer of the policy holder. Policy holder is the person who holds the Certificate of Insurance issued by the insurer. Information such as date, time and place of the accident, details of the person dead or injured, details of the driver of the car are important in such cases.

An FIR is mandatory for both, the claim as well as to punish the guilty. An FIR/complaint is to be lodged in the area police station to record the accident. Thereafter, An application for compensation should be filed under the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal when death, injury or damage has been caused by a motor vehicle.

Such application can be filed by the person who has sustained such injury or the person whose property is damaged or legal representatives of the person deceased or an agent duly authorized by the injured person.

There are three modes by which aggrieved can ask for compensation:-

When the identity of the car is known a claimant cannot use below methods of compensation which are

ð Under Section 140 of the MV Act, Principle of no fault liability is provided by the statute and such case of no fault liability principle, the claimant does not need to prove any fault or neglect on the part of the driver for receiving compensation. There is a fixed amount of compensation payable to the victim which is 50,000/- in case of death and 25,000/- in case of permanent disablement.

ð Under Section 163A of MV Act Structured formula basis is provided by the statute and the owner of the vehicle or the authorized insurer shall be liable to pay as per the Second Schedule of MV Act to the victim or his legal representatives when such vehicle is involved in causing death or permanent disablement to any person.

When the identity of the offending vehicle is not known the following formula is used to claim compensation under the MV Act:-

ð Under section 161 of MV Act, Compensation in hit and run cases can be claimed for the Hit and Run cases. Hit and run can be explained as the liability of a driver of any vehicle who is involved in a collision which damages vehicle or property of any other person or injures any other person(s) or both and who runs away without giving his name and license number as prescribed by statute to the injured party, witness or any law enforcement officer. It is a situation where the identity of the vehicle responsible for the accident is not traceable. As the identity of the driver or the owner is not traceable, a fixed amount of compensation is given to the victim or the legal representatives of the victim from funds created by the government. The claimant receives the compensation as follows:-

Section 161 (2)

(a) in respect of the death of any person resulting from a hit and run motor accident, a fixed sum of two lakh rupees or such higher amount as may be prescribed by the Central Government;

(b) in respect of grievous hurt to any person resulting from a hit and run motor accident, a fixed sum of fifty thousand rupees or such higher amount as may be prescribed by the Central Government.

Since the claims under the MV Act is a beneficial law, the Act now does not provide for any time limit for filing claim application unlike earlier.

Any person who feels aggrieved by the decision of the Motor Vehicle Claims tribunal can appeal in the area High Court under section 173 of the Motor Vehicle Act. No appeal by the person who is supposed to pay any amount in terms of award given by the Claims Tribunal shall be entertained by the High Court, unless he has deposited with it rupees 25,000/- or 50% of the amount so awarded, whichever is less in the manner directed by the High Court. Secondly, no appeal shall lie against any award if the amount in the dispute is less than rupees 10,000/- and the appeal is to be made within 90 days of the order.

Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 also covers the offences like over speeding, dangerous driving and drunk driving. A person should have had 30mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his/her body to be called drunk under the Act. A first time offender in the case of drunk driving could be sentenced up to 6 months imprisonment or fined up to two thousand rupees or both. A second time offender within the time gap of 3 years could be sentenced up to 2 years of imprisonment or fined up to three thousand rupees or both.

Accidents which are caused by the rash or negligent act of the driver gives rise to criminal liability provided under Section 304A of the IPC such act is punishable for 2 years or fine or both. A person who is driving or riding holds the ultimate duty to control his vehicle. Such a person is prima facie guilty of negligence if his vehicle dashes into something or someone unless he has reason to explain that he did everything in his power to keep the vehicle under control but the accident was inevitable.

There are various other offences involving motor vehicle accidents which are punishable under the Indian Penal Code.

ð Section 279 covers rash driving or riding on public way which is punishable by the way of imprisonment up to 6 months or fine of one thousand rupees or both.

ð Section 336 provides that anyone who acts rashly or negligently which endangers human life or safety can be punished with imprisonment for a term up to three months or a fine of rupees 250/- or both.

ð Section 337 and section 338 cover causing hurt and causing grievous hurt which threatens life and safety of people. A person is liable to pay up to rupees 500/- as fine and can be sentenced imprisonment for a term of six months or both in case of causing hurt under section 337. In case of grievous hurt, the driver can be punished with imprisonment extending up to two years or fine of rupees 1000/- or both.

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