‘Ruling’ the road

With high-end vehicles of politicians throwing caution to the winds on the roads, the hapless common man feels bullied on the road

September 09, 2018 12:23 am | Updated 12:24 am IST

Ongole, Andhra Pradesh May 21,2013, Tuesday caption: An ill-fated  car smashed by a container truck on the Chennai-Kolkata national highway at Thuravagunta in Prakasam district on Tuesday.
photo: Kommuri Srinivas

Ongole, Andhra Pradesh May 21,2013, Tuesday caption: An ill-fated car smashed by a container truck on the Chennai-Kolkata national highway at Thuravagunta in Prakasam district on Tuesday. photo: Kommuri Srinivas

The sight of a high-end car or multi-utility vehicle, in general perception, causes discomfort among the common people, particularly pedestrians and two-wheeler riders on the roads, given the sturdy looks and high capacity engines they feature.

When it comes to politicians and elected representatives travelling in such vehicles, which usually are seen speeding giving two hoots to the safety of the public, motorists even get frightened to ride alongside or ahead of them.

Making the fears worse, three such vehicles of elected representatives, ideally supposed to be more cautious and lead by example, have knocked down five people in a span of a week around the city recently.

Three of them, including an elderly couple, succumbed to injuries on the spot. Two others sustained injuries and are recovering.

First, it was the vehicle of ‘BJP State Office’ carrying Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao that knocked two women crossing the Chennai-Kolkata national highway near Tadepalli on August 24. A woman, Sailaja, died on the spot while the other was rushed to the hospital.

Mr. Narasimha Rao drew the ire of rival Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders, who pointed out his “insensitive” decision to leave the spot immediately after the accident without helping the victims. Mr. Narasimha Rao, however, later dismissed the allegations and revealed that he was there at the spot until medical help came for the victims and also consoled the families at the hospital.

Before this issue settled, a vehicle of a TDP lawmaker (defected) mowed down an elderly couple — Botta Seetha Mahalakshmi and Botta Hari Narayana Reddy in their sixties — at Kesarapalli near the Gannavaram airport on August 29. The MLA Pothula Rama Rao of Kanduru in Prakasam district was heading towards the airport to attend the funeral of actor and politician Nandamuri Hari Krishna, who also died in a ghastly road accident the same day.

Two days later, K. Mark, an elderly man of Gudavalli had to be admitted to hospital with severe injuries after the car in which TDP MLA Gollapalli Surya Rao was travelling knocked him down when crossing the national highway.

Vehicles at high speed

In all the three incidents the vehicles, which are MUVs, were cruising at over 100 kmph, which is why they could not be controlled despite having a proper braking system in place, police say.

Mr. Narasimha Rao’s car, owned by the state office of BJP, has been fined five times in the past four years. Twice for overspeeding and one each time for dangerously jumping signal, heading against traffic flow and stop line violation. The other two cars are recently bought ones and still bear temporary registration numbers. Also, all the three lawmakers are accused of leaving the accident spot without helping or consoling the victims.

Much before all these accidents, a car, part of the Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu’s convoy, was involved in a minor accident drawing the ire of locals. However, no serious injuries were reported.

Violation of rules

“All the accidents occur due to the violation of certain traffic rules, and vehicles of politicians are no exception. We consider people of both the accident parties apart from drivers as victims and in these cases, the lawmakers had nothing to do with the cause of accidents. They too care for their own lives,” said senior traffic police official in Vijayawada.

Most of the drivers of lawmakers are government employees and we conduct training and review sessions once in 15 days to ensure that no accidents take place, the official added.

On the other hand, politicians’ vehicles also resort to road rage causing troubles to the public. Most of the vehicles of lawmakers and their clan use sirens instead of horns, claiming special access on the roads, and the traffic police on the ground unaware of the identity of the VIPs in the car give them special access or exemption to traffic rules.

A month ago, a man reportedly belonging to BJP had almost knocked down a police constable and sped on M.G. Road though he was being asked by several policemen to get out of the vehicle. The accused was later booked for violation of traffic rules.

“The speed limit on a majority of highways in the country is 90 kmph by default. But how many actually know and follow this?” asks M. Vasu, executive director of Vheedu, an NGO that focusses on accidents and traffic violations.

“All the cases are being considered as they are a result of the negligence of the person behind the wheel. But overspeeding is never a negligence, but a clear violation of road traffic rule. It is a fact that politicians’ vehicles often move fast on the roads,” he added.

“No one respects a pedestrian on the roads and no one talks of violations. It is the responsibility of every public representative to create awareness on traffic rules among their citizens and fight against the system whenever an accident occurs on a road in their area due to causes other than negligence,” Mr. Vasu said.

Minister Kalava Srinivas escaped unhurt in a road accident when his speeding car rammed a the railing of a bridge in Anantapur district a month ago. Ministers and former ministers Kollu Ravindra, Paritala Sunitha, Peethala Sujatha, Adinarayana Reddy and others also met with accidents but escaped unhurt in the past.

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