The Rest of the Motor Vehicles Act IV: Construction, Traffic and Foreign Vehicles

Three chapters of the Act in one

Chapter VII, sections 109 to 111, is about the vehicle: how it must be built and kept. Chapter VIII, sections 112 to 138, is about the road: speed, weight, signs, signals, helmets and what a driver must do when an accident happens. Chapter IX, section 139, is about vehicles temporarily leaving or visiting India.

Of all the sections outside the claims machinery, the ones in this chapter come closest to the law of tort, because they state, in statutory form, a good deal of what a reasonable driver is expected to do.

Chapter VII: construction and maintenance

• Section 109. General provision regarding the construction and maintenance of vehicles: every vehicle must be so constructed and maintained as to be at all times under the effective control of the person driving it.
• Section 110. Rules by the Central Government on construction, equipment and maintenance, including brakes, lights, emission standards, safety glass and much else.
• Section 111. Rules by the State Government.

Chapter VIII: control of traffic

Speed, weight and use.

• Section 112. Limits of speed.
• Section 113. Limits of weight and limitations on use.
• Section 114. Power to have a vehicle weighed.
• Section 115. Power to restrict the use of vehicles on specified roads.

Signs and places.

• Section 116. Power to erect traffic signs.
• Section 117. Parking places and halting stations.
• Section 118. Driving regulations, made by the Central Government.
• Section 119. Duty to obey traffic signs.

On the vehicle.

• Section 120. Vehicles with left hand control.
• Section 121. Signals and signalling devices.
• Section 122. Leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position.
• Section 123. Riding on the running board, and the like.
• Section 124. Prohibition against travelling without a pass or ticket.
• Section 125. Obstruction of the driver.
• Section 126. Stationary vehicles.
• Section 127. Removal of motor vehicles abandoned or left unattended in a public place.

Safety of riders.

• Section 128. Safety measures for drivers and pillion riders.
• Section 129. Wearing of protective headgear.
• Section 130. Duty to produce the licence and the certificate of registration.
• Section 131. Duty of the driver to take precautions at an unguarded railway level crossing.

When something happens.

• Section 132. Duty of the driver to stop in certain cases.
• Section 133. Duty of the owner to give information.
• Section 134. Duty of the driver in case of accident and injury to a person.
• Section 134A. Protection of Good Samaritans.
• Section 135. Schemes to be framed for the investigation of accident cases and for wayside amenities.
• Section 136. Inspection of a vehicle involved in an accident.
• Sections 137 and 138. Rules by the Central and State Governments.