Cops must turn wheels around on bike racing

The seized bikes at Kherwadi police station. Pic/Shadab Khan

The police are hot on the heels or in this case, wheels, of a mastermind, cracking down on late-night bike racing. At least 82 people, including 10 minors, have been caught and 48 motorcycles and scooters seized, a report in this paper, quoted the Kherwadi police giving details. The police invoked the Maharashtra Prevention of Gambling Act.

There was an Instagram post, where motorcyclists were encouraged to participate in bike racing to win a cash prize. Bikers chose certain areas near Bandra to perform stunts in order to win the prizes.

In a familiar scenario, racers get their silencers either modified or removed. A few number plates of the confiscated bikes are either broken or have fancy plates that are illegal. The police cracked down with a number of teams involved, laying a trap for the racing bikes and eventually, they literally rode into the trap on the Western Express Highway (WEH). The police also said they were gambling under the garb of bike racing.

Also Read: Mumbai: Trapped and caught racing on WEH, 82 face gambling charge

This has to be tackled seriously and with an iron hand. Bikers endanger themselves but the bigger tragedy is that they also endanger pedestrians and drivers of other vehicles on our roads. Removing the silencers, or even modifying them means ear splitting noise late at night, when these racers tend to have their competitions.

We have seen complaints about these bikers in several parts of the city. The punishments should be so stringent, that they are a deterrent to others. They should also teach a lesson to these young men, who are surely mature enough to understand that their foolish, just for thrills, prizes and social media likes racing can and does take lives. It can turn a family's future dark in just one minute. If they do not understand that or value human life, they have no business to be on the roads.

Nip the biker racers who turn our roads into killer stretches.