NEW DELHI: From November this year, those applying for a new driving licence (DL) will have to mandatorily go through an in-depth online video tutorial on safe driving practices one month before going for the test. Besides details of safe driving practices, the video tutorials will also have interviews of family members of those impacted by casual driving, reports Dipak Dash
Similarly, the existing licence holders will need to undertake a driver safety certification course, if they are caught for certain types of traffic offences. These drivers would have to complete the refresher course in three months. Their DLs would be linked to Aadhaar to track the drivers who have completed the course.
The road transport ministry has also set the October 31 deadline for rolling out a mechanism to share footage of two-wheeler riders not wearing helmets while crossing toll plazas with local police for issuing challans to them. This is crucial considering that while in major cities such violations are captured in cameras set up by traffic police, CCTV cameras are almost non-existent in other parts of the country. Nearly 44,666 two-wheeler drivers and pillion riders were killed in road crashes in 2019 for not wearing helmets and such victims constitute almost 80% of all two-wheeler occupants killed in accidents.
Sources said the detailed protocol for online video tutorial for new applicants for DLs and safety certification course for existing drivers will be spelt out in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules under the amended MV Act in the next few weeks.
They said several video tutorials are available with states and organisations specialising in road safety. “There will be an integrated system for this and the applicant won’t be able to apply unless he/ she has successfully completed the video tutorial. This will make them aware about the rules and they will get sensitised when they will go through the experiences of people who have suffered due to road crashes caused by irresponsible drivers,” said a source.
Though there have been several debates over whether fault of drivers or bad engineering and maintenance of roads is more responsible for road crashes, the trends across the globe show that driver behaviour is one of the key reasons for traffic crashes