Parents may face action for letting minors drive

Minor from city involved in mishap even as Centre mulls tough laws

NEW DELHI: The government is set to back a proposal to punish the parents of children who drive, a move aimed at curbing rising fatalities from the underage getting behind the wheel.

The plan is to amend the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act to introduce a provision to charge the parents of juvenile drivers involved in crashes and send the errant minors to do community service. The road transport ministry is likely to discuss the proposal at a meeting of state transport secretaries on April 22.

“If a minor is involved, it will be presumed that the parents know and willingly allowed or influenced the child. So, they should be held accountable for allowing the minor to drive,” a source said on Wednesday.

The quantum of punishment for parents and the duration of community service f or errant minors will be worked out after consulting the states, the source said.

“Since road transport is on the concurrent list, states will have to agree. If there is unanimity, a decision can be taken at the April 29 meeting of the empowered group of state transport ministers reviewing road safety.”

The government’s push for stricter road safety comes amid a growing call to make parents accountable after a Class 12 student in north Delhi’s upmar- ket Civil Lines mowed down a 33-year-old marketing consultant with his father’s Mercedes car on Sunday.

The father of the teen, who turned 18 four days after the accident, was charged with abetment to culpable homicide not amounting to murder but was granted bail. CONTINUED ON P11