This article is written by Kavana Rao from Symbiosis Law School, Noida. This article gives an understanding of the need and importance of Accident Information Report.
Table of Contents
Introduction
We witness a lot of road accidents on a daily basis. Few minor and some major ones that result in grave injury or death. Common reasons for road accidents are, not abiding by the traffic signals and signboards, excessive speeding, and mostly sheer negligence.
India is one of the top countries in the world in road crash deaths and injuries. There are some dangerous and worrisome statistics where although India only forms 1% of the world’s vehicles it accounts for 11% of all road crash deaths, with nearly 53% road crashes every hour, killing 1 person in every 4 minutes. India accounts for approximately 4.5 lakh road crashes per annum of which 1.5 lakh people have died. Road accidents not only result in the death of the people but also are a burden to society and the nation, as the estimated cost of death in a road accident is around Rs 91.16 lakh.
As per Section 158(6) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the police who are in charge of the station are responsible for forwarding a copy of any information that is recorded regarding any accident involving death or bodily injury to any person within 30 days from the date of recording of information. A report under this Section is completed by a police officer, or, as the case may be, on completion of such report it will be forwarded to the Claims Tribunal having jurisdiction and copy thereof to the concerned insurer. According to Section 3(6) of the Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014, “detailed accident information report” is the report that is filed by the investigating officer under Section 242 of the same Bill.
The Accident Information Report serves a dual purpose as it not only acts as a detailed report for motor vehicles accident claims but also helps in determining the cause of the accidents to take preventive measures.
Brasilia Declaration, 2010
The Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety was signed in Brazil at the second Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety in the year 2015. With the support of the Brasilia Declaration, the countries plan to attain the sustainable development goal 3.6. This SDG lays importance on reducing the number of accidents to half the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030 and preparing the accident information report is a step towards achieving the sustainable development goal of ensuring road safety.
Need and importance
- At present, the accidents are not investigated in a scientific manner and the data is received from the First Information Reports prepared by the police under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which do not contain a detailed account to address the need of determining how and why the accident occurred. This fails to unravel the cause of the accident, and hence the accident information report is essential to thoroughly understand and interpret the cause and reasons for the accident and to also ensure that there are no discrepancies in the reporting.
- An accident information report is also required while claiming insurance, life insurance in case of death, and vehicle insurance in case of damage to the vehicle.
- By understanding the cause of the accidents by documenting them, the concerned authorities can monitor the potential problems and increase the likelihood that repeating failures will be noticed and resolved before they develop into serious incidents.
- The data from the report can be stored and analyzed, to understand the trends and common linkages over a period of time and prove useful to map out targeted solutions.
- Schedule IV of the Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014 provides the new format of the detailed accident information report, which contains specifics such as road system, the road character, environment condition, vehicle type, etc. This format is an improved version that is not only useful for accidents but also for claims in the tribunal for road accidents. Since the information and details in the present accident report system are derived from the FIR filed which hampers the scientific investigation, a detailed investigation report will help the road accidents to be investigated scientifically.
Detailed procedure for the investigation
Section 242 of the Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014 gives the procedure for the investigation process of road accidents to make an accident information report.
- After being informed about the accident, the investigating officer appointed by the police shall:
(a) inspect the accident site;
(b) prepare a site plan;
(c) capture photographs of the accident site; and
(d) conduct a spot inquiry by interrogating any eyewitnesses and bystanders as soon as possible after being notified of the accident under Section 241.
- Within twenty-four hours of the collision, the investigating officer must report the details of the incident to:
a) the Claims Tribunal; and
b) if insurance information is available, the offending vehicle’s insurance company.
- The details of the accident will be posted on the police department’s website.
- The insurance company shall appoint a Designated Officer for each case immediately upon receipt of communication of the accident’s details, who will be responsible for dealing with and processing that case, as well as making a decision on the amount of compensation payable in accordance with the law, following the police’s detailed accident information report.
- The investigating officer is in charge of collecting the relevant evidence relating to the accident and also compute the compensations.
- Within fifteen days of the accident, the investigating officer must file the detailed accident information report with the Claims Tribunal, in the manner described in Schedule IV, with a copy to the Insurance Company, the claimant, and the National Authority.
- Along with the accident information report, the following should be attached:
(a) certified copies of the first information report (FIR)
(b) site plan
(c) photographs
(d) registration cover
(e) driving licence
(f) post-mortem report
(g) Medico-Legal Certificate
(h) permit
(i) Insurance policy, challan and the documents relating to the proof of age, occupation, income and the number of legal representatives and their age in case of death; and
(j) The expenditure that was incurred by the insured and the proof of the injuries that he had, in the situation of injury cases.
- The investigation officer shall immediately electronically record or archive the completed detailed accident information report in a data repository stated by the National Authority, and shall transmit such detailed accident information report by uploading a photographic copy, scanned copy, or any other means prescribed by the National Authority in order to record the original form of the detailed accident information report and contents thereof.
- In cases of:
(a) hit-and-run accidents;
(b) cases where the parties reside outside the judicature; and
(c) in cases where the victim is the only victim and he or she is grievously injured in the accident,
The Claims Tribunal may accordingly extend the time in the facts of each case, by not more than thirty days at a time.
- Investigating officer must produce not only the driver, owner, claimant, and eyewitness before the Claims Tribunal but also the detailed information report. If the police cannot bring them before the Claims Tribunal on the first date of the hearing for reasons not under its control, then the Claims Tribunal can issue notices to them which will be served through the investigating officer for a date for appearance not later than 30 days. The investigating officer must also notify the Insurance Company in advance of the day on which the detailed accident information report will be filed with the Claims Tribunal so that the Insurance Company’s selected nominated counsel can be present on the first date of hearing before the Claims Tribunal.
Conclusion
To sum up, the accident information report becomes vital while investigating the accident to gain complete information about the accident and understand the cause. It also becomes important while claiming compensation in the Claims Tribunals. One of the other important parts of the accident information report is the need to analyze the problems and ensure that such accidents can further be prevented. It is overall very crucial for road safety and for documentation for analyzing the trends in the future.
References
- https://www.livelaw.in/columns/accident-information-report-importance-need-143011?infinitescroll=1
- https://www.indianbarassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Road-Safety-Bill-2014.pdf
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