Close to 75 percent of two-wheelers are not insured in India. These vehicles pose a threat to the lives of those people who get into an accident with them.
Two-wheelers are said to be considered as the most dangerous means of traveling all over the world. However, it is not just those people riding on two-wheelers who are at risk, but so are pedestrians and cyclists as well. There is a very low probability that you will get any compensation if you get hit by a two-wheeler in India. This is due to the fact that nearly 75 percent of two-wheelers plying on Indian roads are not insured.
The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) has made the Supreme Court aware of this situation and has asked an appointed committee to take the matter to the transport ministry and work out a method for identifying such uninsured vehicles within a time-span of three months, while also submitting a report. IRDA says that most two-wheelers do not have insurance because of the fact that there is little enforcement for the same in our country. According to estimates, 70 percent of vehicles running in India are two-wheelers. Around 82 percent of these vehicles are private, with a majority being two-wheelers.
The number of two-wheelers have increased exponentially specifically in rural areas in the past few years. It is in these areas that insurance is often ignored by the respective enforcement agencies. According to one such agency, running an uninsured vehicle should be considered as a criminal act with the harshest of punishment because people cannot be careless regarding the safety of their fellow citizens. In case of mishaps, victims are often left helpless due to the same reason.
The Road Safety and Transport Bill proposes a high penalty for the defaulter, which includes impounding of the uninsured vehicle and imprisonment of the vehicle’s owner as well.
Source – TheTimesofIndia.com
