The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Racing thrills but kills Law and order

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Sunday, Oct 26, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Racing thrills but kills Law and order

Even as accidents due to rash driving are on the rise, police cannot take action unless a complaint is lodged, writes Marri Ramu

The collision between two cars on Moosapet flyover in the dead of the night a week ago looked like a routine road accident. But there is more to it than what meets the eye.

Some bystanders maintained that the two cars raced one against the other trying to overtake a lorry and collided. They might not be able to provide concrete evidence to substantiate their observation.

But, many agree that of late, incidents of racing by vehicle drivers causing accidents are on the rise. Few months ago, a pillion rider died when the bike being driven by his friend hit a divider on the Necklace Road near MMTS station.

In this case too, some persons told police that they had seen four bikes racing on the road and the fatal accident was a fall-out of it.

No recorded evidence

Many youngsters indulge in racing on city outskirts and in centre as well, mainly on congestion-free and wide roads like the Necklace road, late in the night.

There is no recorded evidence to confirm this. Still many people say they have been witness to racing on the roads connected to State and national highways in the wee hours. This, coupled with alleged rash driving by cab drivers, is making journey on the city roads in the night a scary experience. Persons riding two-wheelers are the worst affected.

“Having worn helmet, it would be difficult to hear small noises. The four-wheeler suddenly comes behind and continuously honks horn causing panic,” Raghu of Musheerabad explains.

Interestingly, racing by youths and rash driving by private car and cab drivers have not come to the adverse notice of law-enforcers. Police officials say, unless there is a data of such incidents or complaints lodged by individuals, they cannot initiate action.

It is a paradox that police officers don’t analyse the factors that result in road accidents while investigating them. Even if they come across such cases, there is no mechanism to collate the data, examine the reasons and identify the pattern. Under the name of drive against drunken driving, traffic policemen are posted at some static point and they subject vehicle drivers to checking.

Because police conduct checking during the same timings and at the same places, there is little scope for them to notice persons driving rashly and youths indulging in racing.

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