In a case of innocents paying the price of a rash driver’s negligence, two young men in Ahmedabad died when a speeding Hyundai Creta jumped the road divider and crashed into a scooter in the next lane. The killer accident was captured by a CCTV camera overlooking the road. The driver, Gopal Patel, has been arrested and police have said he was drunk driving. He has been charged in a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, police have said.
The incident took place on Naroda-Dehgam road in Ahmedabad last night. Footage from the CCTV camera shows an auto-rikshaw and Hyundai Creta SUV behind it. The SUV driver overtakes the three-wheeler at high speed, but loses control, and jumps the divider into the next lane. The SUV was in the air for at least five seconds and was tilted to one side, suggesting the speed it was in. As it lands, it crashes into a Honda Activa scooter coming from the opposite side. Amit Rathore (26) and Vishal Rathore (27), who were on the scooter, died on the spot.
Residents and passersby thrashed the SUV’s driver after the killer crash and then handed him over to the police. Ahmedabad rural police chief Om Prakash Jat has said Gopal Patel was drunk at the time of the accident. “Police have arrested the accused. A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered,” he said.
According to a report released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways last year, India reported over 4.61 lakh accidents in 2022 and over 1.68 lakh people died in road crashes. This translates to over 450 deaths due to accidents every day. Nearly 70 per cent of the victims are under 45. Over 70 per cent of accidents and over 75 per cent of deaths were due to ‘over speeding’. Drunked driving, jumping red light, driving on the wrong side and the use of mobile phones were the other major causes, according to the report.
Inputs by Mahendra Prasad