Soon, breaking a red light, cutting lanes and rash driving will take its toll on your wallet. Also, if you are someone who is a back seat driver and commands the chauffeur to break traffic rules, insuring your car will cost you more. Vehicle owners could end up paying a higher insurance premium for their vehicles if they employ “risky and unsafe drivers” or themselves drive in a rash manner.
This is one of the key reforms being incorporated in the new Motor Vehicle & Traffic Safety law. Over the next couple years, data relating to drivers and their offences would be recorded and available online through a centralised database. So the next time you need to employ a driver, you can verify his credentials and go through his driving history. While at present the insurance is linked only to vehicles, under the new law it will be linked both to vehicle and record of its drivers. Government officials said the insurance companies can identify the “risky drivers” by accessing the centralised database. So, at the time of paying annual premium, the vehicle owner has to pay higher premium for errant driving.
Special commissioner (traffic) of Delhi Police Muktesh Chander said, “A driver who is prone to cause accidents must pay higher premium just as a sick man pays more for the insurance cover. Until the livelihood of bad drivers and those posing serious risk to other road users is linked to his track record of driving, it would be tough to reduce fatalities.”
A senior official at the Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDA) said at present the vehicle owner gets ‘no claim bonus’ for accident-free drive. “Once the government comes out with any new legal provision, the issue would be discussed on its implementation.”
Source: ET