Latest news with #MotorVehicleAct
Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Town moves ahead with taxi bylaw repeal
Sussex has scrapped its taxi bylaw after receiving a legal opinion that it could do so without inadvertently banning cabs. A bylaw to repeal the town's taxi bylaw was passed May 20 at Sussex's town council meeting. It had been introduced in February, but was pulled off the agenda after the province told Brunswick News that a bylaw must be in place for a rideshare or taxicab company to operate. A provision of the provincial Motor Vehicle Act added in 2020 reads that 'no vehicle-for-hire company shall carry on business ... unless authorized to do so by the local authority.' 'A by-law must be in place if a for-hire company is operating within a municipality, and the vehicles must operate in accordance with the Motor Vehicle Act. These regulations also apply to taxicabs,' provincial department of justice spokesperson Jadesola Emmanuel said in March. Sussex CAO Jason Thorne said when they reached out to the province, they were advised to get a legal opinion, and their solicitor had told them that there was a distinction between taxicabs and rideshare companies such as Uber or Uride, and that the provision only applied to the latter. A vehicle-for-hire company is defined by the act as 'a person who uses or offers a technology platform to facilitate the offer of vehicle-for-hire services.' A taxicab is described as 'a motor vehicle, other than a bus, during any period in which the vehicle is being used to transport a person for remuneration.' Thorne said the opinion was presented to committee last week, and that council was told that 'ironically, we could very well find ourselves in situation where we are enacting a bylaw for exactly that reason' if they wanted to eventually welcome vehicle-for-hire services in the community. 'At this time, we have not had any direct discussions with the Town of Sussex regarding this change,' Emmanuel said on May 26. 'However, ride-share and taxi companies are required to obtain municipal approval to operate whether through a bylaw or another form of formal agreement.' Emmanuel did not reply when asked if taxis were currently permitted to operate in Sussex without the bylaw. The town had moved to repeal the bylaw, passed in 2022, over concerns that it was not being enforced, Mayor Marc Thorne said in March. The bylaw calls for police to inspect cabs, which Thorne said after the meeting in May has not been happening and is not part of the town's RCMP agreement. At the meeting, Coun. Paul Maguire said the town had regulated taxis for more than 60 years, and said repealing the bylaw would be 'lowering the public safety standards for taxicabs.' Deputy mayor Tim Wilson said the 'dillemma is it's not enforceable,' saying that 'I'm not sure what you'd accomplish' leaving it in for appearance's sake. Jason Thorne told council their legal opinion found they're in 'a more precarious position' by having an unenforced bylaw than having no bylaw at all. The repeal bylaw passed third reading and was enacted by a 4-3 vote, with Maguire, Coun. Doug Bobbitt and Coun. Eric Nelson voting against. Marc Thorne said that they have occasionally asked the local cab companies for information and not heard back, saying that they wouldn't be able to hire a bylaw enforcement officer to cover it because with the small number of cabs, they could never make the money back. 'We only have a couple of taxi firms with just a few taxis, so this is just a small part of our corporate community,' he said, adding 'the cost to administrate the bylaw is many times bigger than you'd ever derive from it.' He added that not enforcing the bylaw opened up liability for the town if anything ever happened. Meanwhile, he said the provincial law already has requirements ensuring vehicles stay roadworthy. Thorne called the confusion over the 2020 changes 'frustrating,' which was why they got the legal opinion. Brunswick News made a request for comment to Allen's Taxi and is awaiting a response. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hans India
2 days ago
- Hans India
Banned horns removed from 35 vehicles
Tirupati: The Tirupati police, as part of the 2-day special drive, removed banned horns including air horns, multi- toned horns and hooters from 35 vehicles. The drive was taken up in select places in the city on Monday, where traffic was heavy including Anna Rao Circle, railway station, Annamaiah Circle, Town Club and Balaji Colony. A team of the city police involved in the drive found banned horns in 35 vehicles and removed them. This include 18 autos, 15 two-wheelers and two Jeeps. Traffic DSP Ramakrishnamachari cautioned the vehicle riders, who were having banned horns, not to use them again. He said police didn't file case as it was first time and will not hesitate to register a case if they found using the banned horns second time. SP Harshavardan Raju said that as per Motor Vehicle Act causing noise pollution is punishable and wanted the people to remove voluntarily banned horns, else they have to face severe action from police.
Indian Express
6 days ago
- Indian Express
‘Heard a huge crash, people were shouting': Two killed, three injured as teen rams car into hut after knocking down cyclists
Hours after a speeding car crashed into a slum in West Delhi's Pankha Road, a group of jhuggi dwellers gathered in the area to recall the horror that had unfolded in the early hours of Thursday. 'We heard a huge crash and people were shouting…we woke up to see that Phool Singh's jhuggi was completely flattened…we first rescued the children in the house and went to help Soni (his wife) because she is pregnant…one of her legs was crushed,' recounted Shakuntala, Phool Singh's aunt. Phool Singh (30), a grindstone maker and seller, was one of the two people killed when a 19-year-old boy allegedly rammed his car into two cyclists around 3:30 am and then crashed the vehicle into his hut on the roadside, said police, adding that the teen has been apprehended. Phool Singh's seven-month pregnant wife, Soni (25), their five-year-old nephew, Vishal, and a cyclist were injured in the incident. Recalling how locals caught hold of the accused after the accident, Ankit, a slum dweller, said, 'People surrounded his car and were beating the driver. We managed to drag Phool Singh and another man (the cyclist) out from under the tyres of the vehicle. We took them to Mata Chanan Devi Hospital. But the doctors said they were already dead,' said Ankit, a jhuggi dweller. The teen, police said, was driving back home from a friend's birthday party in Gurgaon. He was allegedly drunk, said officers, when he hit the first two victims — Anish Ansari (45) and Kuldeep (28). They were both riding bicycles. While Kuldeep was injured, Ansari was dragged roughly 200 metres before the car crashed into huts on the roadside. 'My daughter-in-law's leg is completely mangled and Vishal is so traumatised that he can't utter a word,' said Guddi, Phool Singh's mother, who also lives in the slum cluster. The condition of those injured is being monitored, said officials. According to the police, the teen was accompanied by a friend. They were not injured during the incident. Both men had driving licences, police said. An FIR has been registered against the accused at Janakpuri police station, under BNS sections 281 (rash or negligent driving), 125(a) (act endangering life or personal safety of others), and 106(1) (causing death by negligence), along with section 185 (driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs) of the Motor Vehicle Act.
Hindustan Times
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
Indian road safety strategies backed by datasets: Bloomberg Philanthropies director
New Delhi: Although we know that too many people are still dying on Indian roads, it is vital to showcase some initiatives that can be role models for the rest of the country, Bloomberg Philanthropies director Kelly Larson said. According to the Bloomberg Philanthropies, which began implementing safety initiatives in Indian cities in 2010, Mumbai saw a 39% reduction in road crash fatalities and a 52% reduction in pedestrian fatalities in the last 10 years. Pune recorded a 35% reduction in cyclist fatalities in 2023, compared to 2022. Notable interventions include ensuring two-wheeler riders in the national capital wear helmets correctly, reclaiming pedestrian space by cordoning off busy intersections in Delhi and Mumbai, and prioritising school safety zones in cities across Maharashtra. She said that the national focus on addressing larger systemic issues by amending the Motor Vehicle Act after 31 years and ensuring strict enforcement of the new law by states has made a significant impact. Larson said the traffic police in Delhi have only recently begun to actively enforce the helmet-clasping provision, a rule that has been part of the Motor Vehicle Act since 1988. This is an important intervention because two-wheeler riders are among the most vulnerable road users, and head injuries are the leading cause of death in crashes involving them. Data from the ministry of roads and transport shows that out of 74,897 two-wheeler riders who died in 2022, as many as 50,029 (66.7%) were not wearing helmets. Moreover, there is no record of individuals who wore poor-quality helmets or ones without clasps. Well-fitting, high-quality helmets, according to the World Health Organisation, can reduce the risk of death by more than six times and the risk of brain injury by up to 74%. In Mumbai, WRI-India, a Bloomberg Philanthropies 'safer streets partner,' experimented using planters and paint to demarcate pedestrian spaces at the busy HP intersection in Bandra, Mumbai. The changes have been made permanent since 2018 and replicated in other parts of the city. Similarly, in 2023, WRI, along with the traffic police, redesigned a traffic junction at Delhi Gate by reallocating the under-utilised space to pedestrians and scaling up the transformation to many other junctions in Delhi. Larson, who attended multiple stakeholder meetings in India last month, said the current set of road safety strategies is evidence-based and backed by detailed datasets that record when crashes occur, who the crash victims are, what periods most crashes occur in, and most importantly, where the blackspot locations are and identifying leading risk factors such as speeding. In 2015, Mumbai was one of the 10 cities globally that started working with Bloomberg Philanthropies and its partners on the road safety agenda. In 2020, the partners began supporting Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, and the state of Maharashtra, and currently, the network includes 27 cities and two Indian states. Quoting various datasets on how India has only 1% of all the vehicles globally, and yet 13% of all road fatalities occurred here in 2021, Lievanta Millar, who works on public health at Bloomberg Philanthropies, said it was essential to prioritise the needs of pedestrians and cyclists in urban design. 'When discussing road infrastructure, we need to amend the Indian Road Congress guidelines (that lay down design standards) …and ensure that there are wide enough footpaths where small businesses can operate and people can be safe.' Larson said the Motor Vehicle Amendment Act of 2019 and the focus on enforcement were the key milestones in India's road safety efforts. The new law's provisions were in line with the standards prescribed by WHO on speed, helmet and seat-belt use, and drink driving, but child restraint laws still needed to be strengthened. She also emphasised safer speed limits on Indian highways, where some of the worst road crashes are reported. She said they should be designed not for speed but for safety, recommending the WHO standard of 80 km per hour as a best practice for expressways.
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Time of India
Teenager, aunt killed, 5 injured in E-way pile-up
Navi Mumbai: A 17-year-old girl and her maternal aunt were killed, and five others were injured in a pile-up of five vehicles on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. They were returning from Kolhapur towards Mumbai along the Expressway on Saturday. Due to the mishap, vehicular traffic on the Mumbai carriageway was disrupted for around two hours until a hydraulic crane was used to tow away the damaged vehicles. For the convenience of motorists travelling towards Mumbai, traffic cops had to divert vehicles along one lane of the Pune carriageway. Sujit Gadade, Assistant Police Inspector of Khopoli police, informed that the fatal mishap occurred around 5 pm in the Bhor Ghat's downward gradient near Dheku village at Khopoli in Raigad district. The driver of a container trailer lost control and rammed into three cars, which in turn crashed into an ST bus, a van, and a luxury bus. The Swift car in which the victims were travelling in got crushed as it crashed into the rear end of the luxury bus. API Gadade informed that the deceased were identified as Ashwini Haldankar (35) and her niece Shreya Avtare (17), who scored 95 percent in the SSC board exam. The car was driven by Akshay Haldankar, who was admitted to Jakhotia Hospital in Khopoli. Other injured persons are Vasudha Jadhav (36), Rasika Avtare (38), Sarika Jadhav (9), and Avnish Jadhav (3), who are admitted to MGM Hospital, Kamothe. The accused container driver has been detained and booked under relevant sections of BNS and the Motor Vehicle Act for rash and negligent driving causing death.
