In this blog post, Sunidhi, a student of the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala has written about the legality of the use of hands-free device or Bluetooth for taking calls while driving in India.

Introduction

Every year, nearly 1.4 million people have been killed because they are wireless customers and their over-bearing habit of using cell phones while driving. In India, an estimated 1.35 lakhs people died due to road accidents in 2010, which is approximately 10% of road accident fatalities worldwide and these figures are the highest in the world.[1]

India has the highest number of road accidents in the world. India has earned a dubious identity with over 1,30,000 road accidents in a year. India has overtaken China in the tally of the worst road mishaps.

Section 184 read with Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 prohibits the use of the phones while driving and makes it a punishable offense with a term of six months or with a fine. It has not been expressly stated in the Act; therefore, an executive order was passed for the same.

Why is talking on the phone an offense?

One out of four road accidents is caused due to distractions caused by mobile phones. Today, the use of mobile phones has become a great trouble. People talk on the phone while driving; this distracts them, and they drive recklessly. This leads to increased road accidents as the whole of India has access to mobile phones today.

The act of talking on the phone distracts the mind. The larger portion of the brain concentrates on the phone and lesser portion on the driving. The result is that the concentration of the human brain is diverted from the road. The brain fails to take timely and logical action. Hence, the number of road accidents or crashes has increased. The main reason for penalizing this offense is to avoid brain distractions to keep a control on the number of ever increasing road accidents in India.

According to Indian Police

“Don’t talk on the phone while you’re driving; the police say it’s a crime. Any form of cell phone use is forbidden,” says BK Upadhyay, Joint Commissioner (Traffic), Mumbai. The police say that although the legal system of India is technologically a little behind, but this practice of punishing those found using mobile phones, in any way, is justified because it is for the welfare of the public only. This practice is to bring the road accidents under control. This practice if followed in many states of India such as Maharashtra.[2]

Is it legal to talk on hands-free device or Bluetooth?

According to Section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, whoever drives a vehicle in a manner that is dangerous to the public shall be held liable for such act of recklessness. Section 177 of the said Act describes the punishment for this offense. The punishment for this may be a term of six months or fine up to Rs 1000. In the case of second-time offenders, the maximum fine charged is Rs 3,000 and a term extending up to 2 years.

The reason behind this law is to stop the use of mobile phones while driving because the use of mobile phones distracts the brain. The brain loses its ability to understand the situation and take timely action when suddenly another vehicle, person or animal appears before the driver. Therefore, it does not matter whether the distraction caused by the mobile phone was because of holding a handset, using Bluetooth or wearing the earphones.

The intention for this enactment was to stop the drivers from recklessly driving their vehicles. However, the law does not specifically say that use of Bluetooth or hands-free is prohibited. This is the gray area of law but reading the law with the intention of its legislation, it can easily be concluded that the use of Bluetooth or hands-free cell or reading and sending text messages is strictly prohibited, as allowing it will defeat the provisions of the law.

Anything that is not legal is illegal. The provisions of Section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 specifically prohibits driving in a manner that is dangerous to public safety. The use of cell phones, in any way, either as a handset or hands-free cell, is dangerous to public safety, and many studies have proved this. One such study has been quoted above. Therefore, by applying the analogies, it can be observed that use of cell phones, whether as a handset or hands-free device is illegal.

The Law Commission of India in 2009 suggested that the 28 years old law should be amended to meet the needs of the changing scenario. It should specify that whether hands-free devices can be used or not while driving. However, there is no restriction on the use of mobile phone in any form whether handset or hands-free device by the other occupants of the vehicle.

The law, therefore, on the use of hands-free device or Bluetooth while driving forms part of the gray area of the Indian Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. This issue will remain debatable until the time a specific law is enacted concerning this.

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Footnotes:

[1] Mobile Phone Accidents – Experience Of India, The Journal of Transport and Telecommunication Institute,Volume 13, Issue 3 (Jan 2012).

[2] Available at http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-is-handsfree-cell-talk-a-traffic-offense-2039068.