If You Can Drive A Car, You Can Drive 7500 Kg Truck Says Supreme Court: We Explain
In a recent ruling, the apex court of India—the Supreme Court—has stated that drivers who have an LMV (light motor vehicle) license can also drive transport vehicles weighing under 7,500 kgs. This judgment was passed by a five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. With this decision, drivers of light commercial vehicles will not be required to undergo special training to drive these vehicles, resulting in the saving of jobs.
LMV license enough to drive commercial vehicles under 7,500 kgs
Prior to this ruling, insurance companies would reject the claims of light commercial vehicles used in transport. They would claim that the drivers were not legally authorized to drive commercial vehicles on an LMV license.
However, now, with this clarification from the Supreme Court of India, insurance companies will have to provide claims to commercial vehicle owners. This is good news for all light commercial vehicle owners. Also, the jobs of many such vehicle drivers are now secured as well.
Supreme Court’s stance on road safety
In its order, the Supreme Court of India also took note of the road safety aspect. It stated that road safety is a huge concern in India as every year there are around 1,70,000 fatalities caused by road accidents.
However, it added that there is no statistic or data that suggests that a majority of these are caused by LMV license holders. The court added that most accidents are caused by distractions, failure to wear seat belts, mobile phone use, and impaired driving.
Adapt to modern needs
The Supreme Court of India also highlighted that the legislature needs to adapt the licensing framework to modern needs. It stated that the legislature needs to incorporate emerging technologies like autonomous vehicles and app-based platforms, which were not fully anticipated in existing laws.
Get driving license from driving institutes instead of RTO
Earlier this year, it was announced that from June 1 onwards, any individual who wants to apply for a driving license will not have to go to the RTO. Instead, they can go to a private institute that is authorized to conduct driving tests. It should be noted that not all driving schools are authorized to issue licenses.
There is a long list of requirements that need to be fulfilled by private institutions to be able to certify individuals. Of these, the main requirements for such institutes are that they should have at least a high school diploma or equivalent education. Additionally, the trainer should also have at least 5 years of driving experience.
Apart from this, training for lightweight vehicles should be completed in less than 4 weeks. Also, there needs to be around 29 hours of training. The training needs to be divided into theory and practical sections. Lastly, training for a heavy vehicle license requires at least 38 hours of training.
Get learner’s license from home
Recently, a video went viral on the internet. In this video, a police officer gives instructions on how individuals can get a learner’s license from their home. He explains that individuals can visit the Parivahan website and click on the license tab.
Following this, they need to enter their Aadhar card number and the OTP, after which they can take an online exam, and within half an hour, they can receive their learner’s license.