In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court on Tuesday took serious note of a large number of vehicles plying without third-party insurance cover and directed the Centre to evolve a pilot project by which fuel for vehicles can be refused at petrol pumps until valid insurance is obtained.The top court took note of the number of road accidents on national highways and also the effect of long queues at toll plazas, and directed the Centre to implement pilot projects on certain corridors, substituting the process of stopping at toll plazas with automatic detection of vehicles passing through toll points. A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra, which flagged the lack of compliance of provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act requiring all vehicles to have a valid insurance policy covering third parties, said it is shocking to learn that nearly 56 per cent of vehicles plying on Indian roads remain uninsured according to the Report of the Standing Committee on Finance 2024–25.The top court passed a slew of directions in a motor accident claim case as it highlighted that it is an unfortunate reality of road safety in India that despite the existence of a statutory framework mandating third-party motor vehicle insurance, the compliance was found to be lacking. It said that consequently, victims or families affected by motor accidents often have to run from pillar to post to receive compensation.