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Section 122: Leaving vehicle in dangerous position

Motor Vehicles Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1988
Section 121 All 217 Sections of Motor Vehicles Act Section 123

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 122

Section 122 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 enacts a strict statutory prohibition against leaving or abandoning any motor vehicle or trailer in a public place in a position, condition, or circumstances causing danger, obstruction, or undue inconvenience to other road users or passengers.

  • Proscribed Vehicular Stoppage & Abandonment: Applies to any person in charge of a motor vehicle or trailer who causes or allows the vehicle to remain at rest or abandoned on any highway, carriageway, hard shoulder, or public space.
  • Harm Threshold: Danger, Obstruction, or Inconvenience: The physical posture or stationary position of the vehicle must be such as to cause, or be likely to cause, real danger, obstruction, or undue inconvenience to passing traffic or pedestrians.
  • Composite and Contributory Negligence Dimension: Breach of this section serves as an indispensable evidentiary benchmark in accident claims where a moving vehicle collides with an unlit, broken-down, or improperly parked stationary truck at night.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Arun Kumar Agrawal v. National Insurance Co. Ltd. (2010) 9 SCC 218: The Supreme Court held that leaving a truck stationary in the middle of a national highway at night without parking lights, warning triangles, or hazard indicators violates Section 122, constituting gross composite negligence; the owner and insurer of the stationary truck cannot avoid liability merely because the driver of the oncoming vehicle had headlights.
  • National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Rattani (2009) 2 SCC 75: The Supreme Court affirmed that parking or abandoning vehicles on highways in hazardous positions creates an actionable tortious hazard, emphasizing that statutory traffic control duties under Chapter VIII are intended to prevent fatal rear-end and underride collisions.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In nocturnal rear-end collision claims involving parked heavy vehicles, summon the police site plan (naksha mauqa) and inspection reports under Section 136. Prove the truck was parked on the tarred carriageway without tail lights or hazard reflectors in breach of Section 122. Under Arun Kumar Agrawal, tribunals will apportion substantial composite liability (50% or more) against the stationary truck owner and insurer.

Section 121 All 217 Sections of Motor Vehicles Act Section 123