High-end cars turning killers on wheels

New Delhi: Four people were injured after a speeding BMW crashed into an Uber cab and an auto last Sunday in South Delhi’s R.K. Puram area, the latest in a series of such accidents in the capital. Delhi’s high-end luxury cars involved in road accidents is slowly becoming a menace, and with inexperienced drivers sitting behind the wheels, the problem now threatens to spin out of control.

The accused driver, identified as Rajat, wasn’t the only reckless driver in a luxury car on city’s roads. After a BMW, an Audi and two Mercedes Benz, this was the fifth accident involving luxury cars in the city in past three months.

Just two days ago, on March 5, a 17-year-old teen was crushed to death after an over speeding Mercedes rammed into a scooty in Pashcim Vihar. Deceased Atul Arora, a student of Class 11, was returning home late on Sunday night when the accident took place. Earlier in January, a 24-year-old MNC employee, Shoaib Kohli, who was driving his BMW, lost control of his car and rammed into the WagonR. Due to the impact of the collision, the WagonR flung in the air and skid for at least 50 metres after landing on the road. The cab driver, Nazrul Islam, who was from West Bengal, died on the spot. According to the data available with the Delhi traffic police, in 2014, the city witnessed a total number 6,785 simple accidents as compared to 6,343 in 2015, whereas the number of fatal accidents was 1,629 in 2014 to 1,582 in 2015. According to National Crime Record Bureau, in 2015, on an average five lives end on Delhi’s roads everyday. A traffic police official said that the violations are more frequent in South Delhi areas. What comes out as a major problem is of teenagers heading to schools in their luxury cars. Police officials lament that parents don’t think twice before handing over keys of vehicles, including luxury cars, to their children. “An estimated 20 accidents involving private cars take place on the capital’s roads with chances of 70% being luxury vehicles,” the police said.

According to the data stated by the Union government, with more than five lakh road accidents every year, Indian roads claim the lives of 1.46 lakh citizens annually. Among the metropolitan cities, Mumbai saw the highest number of accidents of all cities in the country, Delhi topped the list of fatalities with 1,622 deaths in 2015.

The police said that there has been a fall in the rate of accidents in Delhi and have attributed the decrease in the accidents and the fatalities to systematic analysis of various aspects of accidents, special night checking-cum-patrolling, action against drunken driving and organising road safety weeks.