In the wake of a recent spike in accidents involving rental cars in the state, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has issued a warning, saying the owner of those vehicles will be arrested, along with the driver, if people are killed on road.
The rent a car service is mainly taken by tourists visiting the state.
“Nowadays accidents are taking place due to people failing to follow traffic rules. Recently Rent-a-car met with an accident because the driver was under the influence of alcohol. These types of accidents are taking place due to rash and rough driving. Hence transport and police departments will have to act on such cases,” Sawant was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
The chief minister was speaking at an event in North Goa on Tuesday.
As per Goa Police data, as many as 3,011 road accidents were reported in the state in 2022, out of which 253 were fatal. According to a Times of India report which reviewed the traffic cell data, the first four months of 2023 had seen at least one person die in road accident per day on an average.
Sawant issued a stern warning against drunk driving and said the owner of the car or bike will be arrested along with the person who takes it for rent if the vehicle meets with an accident, killing other people.
“Those who give their cars or bikes for rent, they will have to tell ‘takers’ (tourists) not to drink and drive. We are working on modalities to arrest the owner of the rental car or bike if its driver is involved in killing people on the road due to an accident,” Sawant said.
The chief minister rubbished claims that the police are imposing fines to collect money from the general public.
“We don’t want your money, but to bring discipline on roads we will have to act. If we don’t act on traffic rule breakers they will get involved in accidents killing people. We don’t want such things to happen,” he said.