Higher fines imposed to curb road accidents and save lives, not to earn money, says Union minister Nitin Gadkari

New Delhi: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that people had stopped respecting and following traffic rules, following which the government had to impose high penalties. The Union minister asserted that higher penalties have been levied to curb road accident cases and save lives. [caption id=“attachment_3017344” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Union minister Nitin Gadkari. Reuters[/caption] “People did not have any fear and respect towards traffic laws and rules so we decided to raise the penalties. By imposing higher fines we are not aiming to earn money, the main motive behind this is to implement the traffic rules in an apt manner,” said Gadkari. “Why are people asked to pay fine? If you won’t break any rule then you won’t be asked to pay any fine. The traffic penalties have been raised as earlier even after imposing penalties for traffic violations, people did not follow rules. People used to take it for granted; they used to think that they will pay some money and move on,” he added. Gadkari further went on to add that the people should follow proper traffic rules so that they do not have to pay higher fines and penalties. “Around five lakh accidents occur every year in our country and around 1.5 lakh people die due to road accidents. Around 1.5 lakh to two lakh, people become handicap due to accidents. Around 65 percent of the people who die in road accidents fall under 18 years to 65 years of age group. Young people die in road accidents. Is there no value of their life?,” said Gadkari. The transport minister told that his department is looking forward to improve the accidental spots in the country and the government will be utilizing around Rs 14 crore for the same. “This initiative is beneficial in many ways and it is in the interest of general public only. I had promised that within five years I will try to bring down the death rate in road accidents to 50 percent,” said Gadkari.