HYDERABAD: They are the new speed demons on the city roads. So reckless and dangerous are they that once they step on the gas the pan-spewing, expletive-mouthing autorickshawallah driving at his whim, comparatively looks like a sage. Only the eager teenager trying his hand at dad's car for the first time and flying on the roads can match these speed demons.

Most of them barely in their teens, cabbies hired by call centres and software companies, have made driving an extremely risky proposition, particularly in the nights and the early hours, posing grave danger to people's lives in the twin cities.

With an eye on the stiff pick-up and drop schedules handed over to them, their eyes are on the speedometer and foot on the accelerator every minute of the ride as they hit the road with a vengeance, jump signals and break all possible rules of the road. But for road users, particularly two-wheeler riders, it means the late night drive back home is a nightmare and a possible brush with death.

Feeble attempt

Even in the narrow lanes or arterial roads, they zoom within seconds after dropping the staff.

Many hit-and-run cases have been reported due to the reckless driving warranting the car rental agencies to put up their contact numbers at the rear window of the cabs, asking people to inform them of reckless driving by their employees.

But, evidently this is just a feeble attempt at reining in the belligerent road kings and their killer machines.

An unsuspecting and fast asleep seven-year-old Naveetha slipped into eternal sleep and her parents suffered injuries after a Tata Indica car belonging to a call centre rammed into a roadside hut at Madhapur early on July 25. The police said the driver lost control due to overspeed and crashed into the hut.

"For old people like us, it is an ordeal to control the vehicle due to reckless driving by these cab drivers. They do not have any courtesy towards other road users," says a retired bank employee N. Mehar Prasad of Neredmet.

Disturbing finding

A study by the traffic police revealed that one out of the five accidents that were reported between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. is turning out to be a fatal, speed and reckless driving by cabbies being the major contributor. But deadlines should not be at the cost of life, insists the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) A. K. Khan.

He said the only solution to the problem was in cab drivers reducing their speed.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail