Bike Traffic Rules

03 June 2019

The joy of riding a bike is priceless. If you want to keep it that way, it is important that you follow the rules laid out by the government.

Indian roads witness approximately 400 deaths every day in to road accidents. About 5 lakh road accidents take place where in around 1.5 lakh people die and another 3 lakh get injured. Ignorant riders take the law for granted and end up breaking all traffic rules and regulations. They get into trouble with the law. There is no doubt about that. But the more miserable part is that the rider and the driver of the other vehicle end up losing their life or getting injured gravely.

Though there were stringent rules existing to address and punish traffic violations, accidents and violations were increasing. So the Cabinet recently approved the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016. This bill specifies penalties in case of all sorts of traffic violations. The proposals are based on the recommendations of transport ministers from 18 states.

Let us start with understanding some simple rules and violations:

• Use Indicators: This one is a no-brainer, but if you have been riding two-wheelers regularly, you already know that very few riders care to use indicators on the road.
• Take only one pillion rider: People take on more pillion riders for convenience and to avoid making repeated trips. While this may save some time and fuel, it is against traffic rules and moreover, can lead you to an accident.
• Do not ride on footpaths: Driving your bike on footpaths will not only increase the risk of accidents with pedestrians but also result in a fine.
• Make use of helmets: It does not matter if they are compulsory in your city or not; while riding a bike, you must wear a helmet. For your own protection.
• Obey traffic signals and observe other riders’ signals: Wait patiently at the signal for your turn and make allowances for other people’s turns and stops.
• Make use of the rear-view mirror: Do not strip your bike of rear-view mirrors. It is there for a purpose and you should use it exactly for that.
• Driving over the speed limit: You should always obey the sign boards that display the maximum speed limit that should be observed in that stretch of the road. Failing this will attract a penalty.
• Driving without licence: This is a serious offence and invariably leads to a penalty. Usually minors are the offenders here, so their parents, who are usually the owners of the vehicles, are punished. The guardian/owner can be imprisoned for up to three years.
• Drunken driving: This will endanger you, your pillion rider and probably another motorist’s life. Mixing drinking and driving is never a good idea. This offence is also heavily penalised now.
• Proper documentation: As per the law, you must have proper documents with you whenever you ride your bike. These are driving licence, registration certificate, emission certificate, insurance certificate. Failure to produce one or more of the stipulated documents will attract penalty.
• Minimum age: The minimum age for driving a two-wheeler in India is stipulated to be 18 years. So make sure that any person or your children riding your bike are adults and hold a valid driving licence.
• Specific signs: Driving in the wrong direction in a one-way street, making U turns where they are strictly prohibited, driving on footpaths - all these count as violation of traffic rules and will land you in trouble.
• Parking: Parking your bike obstructing the flow of traffic, parking on a bridge or footpath, parking in front of a gate, etc. will count as violation of traffic rules and you will have to shell out a penalty for any of these.

Here are some of the penalties imposed by law on erring drivers.

VIOLATION TYPE	EXISTING	PROPOSED
Drunken Driving	Rs. 2,000	Rs. 10,000
Dangerous Driving (including speaking on mobile)	Rs. 1,000	Rs. 5,000
Overspeeding	Rs. 400	Rs. 1,000
Red light violation, not using helmet	Rs. 100	Rs. 1,000 and license banned for three months
Driving without license	Rs. 500	Rs. 5,000
Driving vehicle without permit	Up to Rs. 5,000	Up to Rs. 10,000
Overloading on two-wheelers	Rs. 100	Rs. 2,000 and license banned for three months
Driving without insurance	Rs. 100	Rs. 2,000

It is very important that you follow all these rules and never give a chance to get in a mess with the law. Repeat offenders of certain types of cases will get their licence revoked, so exercise caution. Enjoy your ride, but responsibly.

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