'Need stringent law in city to tame dangerous drivers'

He is a cop with ideas which are bold and untried by others earlier. 

Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Muktesh Chander appears keen to deliver a bitter pill to Delhi drivers who refuse to learn to behave on the road despite being prosecuted repeatedly by his force.

“I want the Motor Vehicle Act to be more driver oriented rather than vehicle oriented at present,” he says.

In case of a traffic rule violation, the vehicle’s permit should not be cancelled but the driver should be stripped of the licence to drive, he says.

“Another way of disciplining errant drivers is to make them pay the compensation to victim of any accident caused by them, instead of the insurance company,” he says.“Also, a third party insurance should not be done of the vehicle but that of the driver. The poorer the track record of a driver for causing accident’s, the higher should be the premium that he is asked to pay to the insurance company,” says Chander, a 1988 batch Indian Police Service officer.

A graduated in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Delhi University and a law graduate, the senior police officer is a supporter of giving more teeth to the existing law for checking rash driving and violation of traffic rules.  

It is not the traffic police men or the strict enforcement of laws that makes the difference but the deterrence that works when it comes to taming errant drivers, says Chander, who is among the top cyber expert in police in India.

“Take the example of an Indian who goes to Singapore and follows all the traffic rules there but in his own country he breaks the rules,” he says.

In Singapore, the drivers know the penalty for drink-driving is stringent and there is no escape. In our city, a fine of Rs 2,000 and jail of a few days does not appear harsh enough for violators who commit the offence repeatedly, he says.

One of his suggestions for tackling errant drivers is to remove the system of fine collection from traffic violators and start cancelling their driving licences.

“The Motor Vehicle Act has the provision that allow the courts to cancel licence of traffic rule violators but the harsh provision is not used in most cases,” he says.

Chander,  who has done a PhD in information security from Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, is also known as the flutist cop in police circle. Apart from several public performances, he has also released a recorded compilation of his flute songs.