The main problem is the severe lack of self-discipline
Mumbai has the dubious distinction of being the number one city in hit-and-run cases in the country. According to the latest data released by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in January this year, Mumbai tops the list of hit-and-run accidents in 28 metropolitan cities with 1,980 cases in 2009 — up from 1,360 cases in 2008.
“There is a limit to the monitoring mechanism, may it be the patrols by the traffic police or nakabandis. The main problem is the severe lack of self-discipline and responsibility among the youth. Most persons involved in such cases are youngsters. There is a cultural shift in their attitude. There is speeding, alcoholism,” said Alka Shah, a road safety adviser at the grievance committee of Maharashtra Police Headquarters.
The police too agree with it. Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Vivek Phansalkar said: “What we have observed is, there is growing irresponsibility.”
Asked if there was any pattern in such cases, he said, “Irresponsibility has no patterns. It is all-pervasive. But largely we have seen that in cases of fatal accidents, hit-and-run cases, the accused and even the victims belong to the age group 18-35.”
Regarding the problems faced during the investigation of such cases, he said: “No one wants to get into a police case. Even in hit-and-run or fatal accidents, which occur in broad daylight, people do not note down the number of the vehicle, they shy away from helping the victims. The police have been sensitised sufficiently. We ensure that those who help the police do not face any problems,” he said.
“Road accident is the fifth major cause of death in India after malaria. The government spends lakhs on malaria, but there are no funds for awareness campaigns,” Ms. Shah said. The number of accidents in the city in the year 2011 stood at 21,487.
Lack of responsibility among the drivers was the major cause for hit-and-run cases, she said. “In the case of celebrities or high-profile drivers, there is an element of arrogance as well.”
But activists said the police and the judiciary had been strict with those involved in such cases in the city. “I remember when actor John Abraham was caught for rash driving, the court did not grant him any leeway. He had to remain in the court during the hearing,” Ms. Shah said.
Recently, Paramdeep Sandhu (41), son of a former Punjab Inspector-General, was arrested for drunken driving after his SUV rammed a 33-year-old vendor's cycle in Versova at 1.30 a.m. He tried to run away, but was nabbed. He is alleged to have abused the police and boasted about his father. He was later granted bail by a local court.
Mumbaikars will also not forget the 2006 hit-and-run case where a 20-something Alistair Pareira's Toyota Corolla ran over 15 construction workers sleeping on the pavement. Seven labourers were killed. The Supreme Court recently cancelled his bail and upheld the Bombay High Court's verdict of three years' imprisonment for the accused.
Nooriya Haveliwala, another youth in her 20s who was involved in a hit-and-run accident, got bail within months after she was arrested in January 2010. She was found to be under the influence of alcohol when her SUV mowed down a policeman and a motorcyclist.
Senior State government officials said the need of the hour was an amendment to the current laws for better prosecution.
In hit-and-run cases, the sections slapped against the accused are bailable. “In most cases, even before the victim is wheeled into the hospital, the accused get bail,” a senior police officer, who did not wish to be named, said.
The State government was now mulling over amending Section 304(a) of the Indian Penal Code wherein certain classes of acts such as drunken driving would be made non-bailable offences, a highly placed officer told The Hindu.
“In hit-and-run cases, the Sections slapped are 279 or 304 or 304(a) of the IPC. What we have observed is, in cases where 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) is slapped, the lower courts do not uphold it,” a senior officer said.
There are many who call for debate in the comments. Laughable. Population and poverty gives less privileged less options. How easily are we trying to shift the blame? If people don't know how to drive on the road on their lanes, they are not fit to hold a driver's license.
Prasad you are right. When a drunkard rams into a people walking on the road then the fault should be person walking on the road, right? We should definitely call for a debate and ban all pedestrians/cyclist/two wheelers from road.
@Prasad: sleeping on pavements is calling for danger.. ? this calls for a debate...?
There is no one wanting to sleep on the pavement and invite someone to mow them down with a vehicle. That's what all they got. What's your contribution to the pavement dwellers and to the homeless as a concerned citizen of India?
Don't just write something because you read this article. Use the gray matter or it may get rot.
india has earned a distinction in more number of road accident.this achievement is mainly due to lack of preventive measure and use of SUV by well off section of society ,those mainly do not care about the pedestrian.need of hour is more stringent preventive measures and nation wide awareness scheme, involving every section of society ,about the safety of people.drink and driving is more prevalent in urban population mainly in the so called middle class. due to lack of social control also given rise of drunken driving in the youth .most of the cases involve people from high class of society which deter law enforcement agencies to act tough against the offenders.
In many accidents there is no criminal element involved. There are many cases of genuine accidents, where purely due to circumstances, vehicles can collide with one another or with people. But the law always goes with the intent to find and pin fault on some driver, usually of the bigger vehicle. This has caused many drivers to flee, choosing to somehow avoid having to go through laborious and inefficient processes, instead of doing the right thing. To add to this misery, on Indian roads, the general public have the habit of forming mobs against the driver of the bigger vehicle, and demanding all sorts of things, but none of those mob members is ever willing to come to court to be a witness in case legal procedures take their course. There are far too many challenges even before we can get to the cases of irresponsible driving. Let's first teach our policemen to show up and accurately record how an accident happened. They do not seem willing or able to do that basic task.
Hit & Run is a major reason as Indians have 'Chalta hai' type attitude towards road safety norms. Also to highlight we don't seem to have provision of License getting canceled forever for people involved in it. If a person in India can hold 3 driving license then it looks sarcastic to think about it. My friend raised a red flag for factory workers 'contributory negligence', if they had homes why they would be sleeping on roads it seems non-sense to add blame to them when it is India. Here in an action point is to counsel people of road safety first , thereafter a very strict law as for e.g. in Lucknow city people used to avoid helmets while driving , but when heavy fines were levied all of them started following the order. If people learn to respect others they will automatically follow traffic rules.
Certainly there seems to be fault of the car driver, but why isnt it considered that sleeping on pavements is calling for danger. This aspect seems to be totally neglected. One feels sorry for the victims but is the fault solely lies on the part of car driver?? This calls for a debate..
The picture of Alistair Pareira's car do not fit in to the caption of
'Hit and Run cases'. Any incident of accident involving man or machine
causing death of third parties or accompanying persons resulting out
of negligence are all culpable homicides not amounting to murder.
Whether one life or many lives are lost the punishment prescribed is
same. The indiscipline and irresponsible attitude among the drivers is
solely responsible for vehicle to vehicle accidents. But in cases of
accidents involving road users, the indiscipline and negligence on the
part of road user is also a major factor behind accidents. Our law
completely ignores the negligence and careless attitude of the road
user or factory worker but the driver or owner of a factory alone is
held responsible for such 'contributory negligence' also. Section 304A
of IPC has to be amended at least to distinguish the acts of normal
accident from that of hit and run cases.
Irresponsible youth? Irresponsible youth return library books late or show up in jeans for formal dinners. These rich SOBs are killer fugitives who must be sent to the gallows, or at least to hard labour for the rest of their lives for vehicular manslaughter. What about the victims and their families who have perhaps lost a loved one for ever or their livelihoods for the rest of their lives? Is there no justice?
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