Death on e-way: Cops must brook no talk down from drivers

Abhay Vaidya Additional Commissioner of Police Vishwas Nangre-Patil is the IPS officer from Maharashtra who occasionally busts rave parties in the Mumbai-Pune belt and nets many big fish in the process, often sons and daughters of influential people. His usual strategy is to zero in on a particular rave party taking place in the city, conduct a raid, ensure that TV crews reach to shoot the drama and generally cause a lot of nuisance to the people having a good time. Herded like cattle, the revelers try to hide their faces using their arms, handbags, handkerchiefs, towels or even hair. What follows are medical tests, appearance before the court, transportation in police vans for a night’s lock-up and other such embarrassing inconveniences. Nangre-Patil, who has been conducting such raids since 2007 when he headed Pune Rural Police, is seen as a nuisance himself and is accused of moral policing. He, however, goes about his work, unmindful of the criticism. One may question his methods, but clearly, someone stern like him is needed desperately to bring discipline on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway which has been witnessing a spate of accidents with inconspicuous regularity. In 2011, the expressway saw 172 accidents with 77 deaths. Across the country, more than 1.35 lakh people die in road accidents every year according to the National Crime Records Bureau, making India the country with the worst road accidents record in the world. The continuing saga of death and tragedy on Indian roads is an old story. The only thing shocking about the May 28 expressway accident in which 28 people were killed in a single instance was the death toll – the highest in a single accident on the expressway ever since it opened to traffic in 2000. Perhaps that accident wouldn’t have happened with strict policing through the preceding years. [caption id=“attachment_326501” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Logically, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway ought to have the least number of accidents. AFP”]  [/caption] The 28 people, who died tragically, belonged to a marriage party that was returning from Ghatkopar to Pune. The mini-bus in which they were travelling suffered a tyre puncture and was parked in the service lane near the Khalapur section when a speeding truck smashed into the mini-bus resulting in the tragedy at around 1 am. The service lane is meant for fixing vehicles that have suffered a breakdown, but the truth is that it is often used for overtaking from the left - a blatant violation of traffic norms. This is what the truck driver was doing on that fateful night. Practically every night on the expressway, slow moving trucks block the first three lanes, refusing to vacate the extreme right overtaking lane for speeding vehicles. This forces vehicles held up behind to overtake from the service lane. For some, this lane becomes the fastest one to travel on, leading to smash-ups with vehicles parked in the service lane. Logically, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway ought to have the least number of accidents given the adequate number of well-marked lanes and the clear segregation of traffic moving in either direction. However, accidents happen with a familiar regularity because drivers are disrespectful of traffic norms. Although 80 kmph is the designated speed limit, reckless over-speeding is a common cause of accidents, especially if you are driving a sedan. Lane-cutting, driving in the service lane and overtaking from the left are the other traffic violations that are seen commonly on the e-way. Adding to this is driver fatigue when an overworked driver loses control of his vehicle. For many years now, the highway police on the expressway have turned a blind eye to over-speeding and have virtually given up on checking speed limits. Often, the lowly police constables and their immediate seniors are insulted by the wealthy occupants of over-speeding luxury vehicles if they are stopped on the e-way for violating norms. In one instance recounted to this journalist, the police had stopped an over-speeding Mercedes-Benz when a lady stepped out of the car, irritated at the temerity of the police. Throwing the f-word at them, she scornfully said, “Can’t you see I’m driving a Mercedes? I plan to drive at the same speed from here on, so I suggest you collect advance fine from me.” A Nangre-Patil would have brooked no such nonsense. He would have told his staff to cause enough nuisance to such shameless traffic violators to straighten them out. The fine doesn’t pinch errant motorists as much as say impounding the driver’s licence, forcing him to appear in court, or stalling the vehicle sufficiently to cause extreme irritation. Since people’s lives and highway safety are involved, the highway police should be allowed to deal as sternly as possible with traffic violators. The most idiotic case of over-speeding that I witnessed was on an American freeway when an Indian friend was rushing to return some cassettes to a video library to avoid the late fees. He was promptly spotted by a waiting police patrol, stopped and fined heavily. If the Maharashtra police were to stop every vehicle over-speeding on the e-way, there would be a traffic snarl, long queue of vehicles waiting to pay the fine and angry motorists complaining of flights to be caught and meetings to be attended. An Indian setting calls for such a situation once in a while. The fact is that not all drivers are bad. Take for example the Mumbai-Pune taxi drivers who follow traffic norms religiously and are never found over-speeding on the expressway even if their passengers urge them to drive fast. Bad driving and a reckless disregard for speed norms is the biggest cause of accidents on Indian roads. This can be fixed only with strong policing and self-discipline on the roads. Till that happens, India is likely to continue with its dubious record as the nation with the highest number of road accidents.