New Delhi, May 1: Upset over the rising cases of causalities due to drunken driving, a Parliamentary standing committee has recommended stringent measures to deal with it.

According to reports, the committee led by CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury, said that necessary amendments should be made in the existing Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill to include death due to drunken driving as culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The committee also suggested that in case of an accident due to drunken driving, the driver’s action should not be construed as mere negligence. Rather, it should be treated as a premeditated crime and he should be punished under IPC, depending on the consequences of the accident, the committee said.

At present Section 304 of IPC deals with premeditated crime. The parliamentary panel, while acknowledging that drunken driving is a major killer on roads, stated that the existing one-time penalty of Rs 2,000, was not enough for the crime. Going a step further, it recommended that a fine to the tune of Rs 2,000 be imposed on the driver if the level of alcohol is detected to be 30-60mg/100ml of blood.

The panel also recommended harsh punishment including a fine of Rs 4,000, if the level is 60-150mg/100ml of blood.

In case, the level is 150mg and above per 100ml of blood, a fine of Rs 5,000 should be imposed along with imprisonment, with a provision to cancel the driving licence.

The panel also suggested that a section be introduced in the bill to deal with the use of mobile phones during driving. The panel agreed that the compensation amount could go upto Rs 1 lakh in case of death and Rs 50,000 in case of grievous injury. Any decision on compensation should be proportionate to inflation.

The committee also urged the government to make it mandatory that every vehicle is insured against third-party liability.

A fixed amount of the third-party liability premium, which can be worked out by the government, must be collected by the insurance Agencies

towards the corpus of the solatium fund, the panel said.

In a bid to reduce road traffic, the panel said that commercial licences for three-wheelers and LMVs should be valid for one year only.