NEW DELHI: If you jump a traffic light, drive on the wrong side of the road, refuse to snap on the seat belt or obstruct emergency vehicles, you may soon have to cough up a fine of Rs 5,000. And if you repeat these offences, the penalty could climb to Rs 10,000 and even Rs 15,000, your licence could be suspended and you may be packed off to a refresher driving course.As was first reported in TOI, the draft Road Transport and Safety Bill , which seeks to tame traffic violators and habitual offenders, has proposed manifold jump in fines and jail term.If a child is killed by a speeding vehicle, the driver will have to pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh and face seven years’ imprisonment. Those caught driving “dangerously” with children on board would lose their licence, be slapped with a fine of Rs 15,000 and even face imprisonment. Being caught without a helmet may leave your purse lighter by Rs 2,500 and using a mobile phone while driving, anything from Rs 4,000 to Rs 10,000 depending on the frequency of violations.The draft Bill, which was posted online on Saturday for public comments, also proposes high penalty of Rs 5 lakh on automobile companies who release faulty vehicles into the market. Auto dealers who deliver a vehicle without a registration number may end up paying a fine of Rs 1 lakh. To check drunken driving, the draft Bill proposes fines between Rs 15,000 and Rs 50,000 depending on the percentage of alcohol detected in the blood. These offences would also invite imprisonment for six months to two years. In the case of school bus drivers, the fine would be as high as Rs 50,000 with a jail term up to three years.“These provisions have been made considering the three main reasons behind road crashes and fatalities – speeding, drunken driving and refusal to wear seat belts and helmets,” said a road transport ministry official.In a first, the road transport ministry has also proposed setting up of one central agency — on the lines of National Highway Traffic Safety Authority (NHTSA) in the US - which will be responsible for a whole range of traffic issues such as setting norms for the issue of driving licences and vehicle registration, vehicle safety, robust data collection and multi-disciplinary crash investigation.“All these years road safety was an orphan issue because no single agency owned responsibility. Countries that have brought down road deaths significantly have created a nodal agency. Once this body comes into place there will be unified coordinated effort involving the states and the Centre,” a road ministry official said.The Bill has proposed the setting up of Highway Traffic Regulation and Protection Force by state governments to enforce traffic regulations and ensure smooth traffic flow. The members of the force will have the authority to impound violating vehicles and arrest drivers found flouting traffic norms. This is important because about 63% of the 1.38 lakh deaths every year on India’s roads happen on national and state highways.The draft Bill has also come out with a detailed pro forma to record details at crash sites to ensure a thorough investigation. Usually, the police blame drivers for accidents on the basis of eyewitness accounts and don’t bother with a detailed investigation into other factors.A traffic cop issuing an e-challan to a violator in Chennai. (TOI file photo)There is also a proposal to set up a Motor Accident Fund to provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users. This would be used to help grievously injured persons and to compensate one or more legal representatives of a victim who dies in a road accident caused by someone else.