Traffic offences and Penalties

               Motor vehicle act came into force in the year 1988. As the road network, urbanisation, motorisation has increased rapidly in the country,there is a sharp increase in the road traffic accidents. Road accidents have become an issue of national concern. Motor vehicle act is an effort to reduce the road traffic accidents if implemented effectively.All of us must be aware of the important sections of the motor vehicle act, if not the complete act.Some of the important sections of the motor vehicle act are given below :

Sr No	MV Act Sections	Offences	Penalties
			First Offence	Subsequent Offence
1	177	1.         Without Seat-belt         2.       Without Helmet         3.       Triple Riding         4.       Wrong Parking        5.       Any other offence which    is not covered under MV Act	Rs 100/-	Rs 300/-
2	179	Disobedience of lawful directions	Rs 500/-	-
3	180	Allowing unauthorized person to drive	Imprisonment up to 3 months or fine up to Rs 1000/- or both	-
4	181	Without Driving Licence	Imprisonment up to 3 months or fine up to Rs 500/- or both	-
5	183	Driving at excessive speed (contravening speed-limits)	Rs 500/-	Rs 1000/-
6	184	Driving dangerously	Imprisonment for 6 months or fine Rs 1000/- or both	If violates section 184 within 3 years, imprisonment  for 2 years or fine Rs 2000/- or both
7	185	Driving by drunken person, minimum alcohol in blood exceeding 30 mg per 100ml	Imprisonment up to 6 months or fine up to Rs 2000/- or both	If violates again within 3 years, imprisonment for 3 years or fine Rs 3000/- or both
8	186	Driving by physically or mentally unfit person	Rs 2000/-	Rs 5000/-
9	189	Racing and trial of speed	Imprisonment up to one month or fine up to  Rs 5000/- or both
10	190	Using vehicle in unsafe condition	Rs 250/-
11	192	Using vehicle without registration	Rs 2000-5000/- Note : No penalty in case of emergency	Imprisonment up to one year or fine up to Rs 10000/-
12	192A	Using vehicle without permit	Rs 2000-5000/-	Imprisonment up to one year or fine Rs 10000/- or both
13	194	Driving vehicle exceeding permissible weight	Rs up to 2000/- plus additional amount of Rs 1000/- per tonne
14	196	Driving vehicle without insurance	Imprisonment up to 3 months or fine Rs 1000/- or both
15	198	Unauthorised interference with vehicle	Rs 1000/-
16	207	Power to detain vehicle without RC, permit etc	Any police officer or authorised person can detain

Important Point to Note :

• Minimum age required to drive a vehicle in public place is 18 years.
• Motor-cycle with engine capacity not exceeding 50 cc can be driven by a person after attaining the age of 16 years.
• Minimum age required to drive transport vehicle is 20 years.
• No person is granted a learner's license to drive a transport vehicle unless he is having a driving license to drive a light motor vehicle for one year.
• Any offence punishable u/s 177, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 186,190, 191, 192 and 194 of MV Act can be compounded by any officer authorised by state government. Once offence is compounded, accused is discharged.
• A police officer can arrest without warrant if a person commits an offence u/s 184 or 185 or 197.
• If someone takes away the vehicle without the consent of the owner of the vehicle , he is committing offence u/s 197.
• A police officer can not reduce the amount of penalty, only court can reduce.
• Offence under MV Act can be compounded online through the police websites for which links to police websites have been given in the Investigating agencies page of this blog.
• If someone is challaned for not having the pollution certificate, he can produce the pollution certificate of the vehicle within 7 days of  challan to the the concerned officer,he will not be fined.
• Front light not half black is not an offence under MV Act, now.
• The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India has prohibited the use of black films of any VLT (visual light transmission) percentage or any other material upon the safety glasses, windscreens (front and rear) and side glasses of all vehicles throughout the country.