Social media has of late been awash with CCTV footage of the perils of wrong-side driving and lack of traffic sense resulting in multiple deaths; one such incident in Vasai on Monday shines light on a larger malaise, including drunk-driving
A car approaching the intersection at illegal speed doesn’t slow down, hits the scooter and flings the duo in the air
Poor road design, potholes, illegally parked vehicles, an unmanned intersection and road rage speak volumes about Monday’s accident in Vasai. A helmetless two-wheeler rider headed towards an unmanned intersection while negotiating a pothole-riddled road and tried to cross where an illegally parked tempo obstructed his view on the side, from where a speeding car driven by an inebriated man rammed into him and his pillion rider.
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After over two days of rigorous investigation, the detection team of Waliv police station traced the white Innova Crysta and arrested its drunk driver Arjun Shrivastava, who runs a mobile shop accessories in Nalasopara. Sources in the police department told mid-day that the three occupants in the car were returning home after boozing overnight at a hotel on NH-48 before the driver rammed it into the scooter of the cousins, who were headed to Tungareshwar temple on the first Monday of the ongoing holy month of Shravan.
Two men on a scooter approach a busy, unmanned intersection. They are not wearing helmets
The CCTV footage shows how Prakash Prajapati, 30, and his pillion rider Nitish Prajapati, 19, had to first negotiate the potholes on the road leading to an unmanned junction at Fatherwadi in Vasai East. A stationary tempo—parked illegally on the busy stretch connecting Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway to Vasai—obstructed the biker’s vision on the right side.
“The car must be running at a speed of not less than 100 kmph when it met with an accident,” said Assistant Police Inspector Dnyanesh Phadtare, attached to Waliv police station. mid-day spoke to Prakash’s elder brother Lalit Prajapati, who said, “It was the first Somwar (Monday) of Shravan. So they were heading to Tungareshwar temple to worship Lord Shiva. They left home early in the morning and reached a nearby petrol pump to fill the fuel tank, and the accident took place at around 6 am .”
A truck has stopped illegally at the junction, making the place a blind spot for vehicles coming from the right of the frame
“The car was running at a very high speed and it rammed into my brothers’ two-wheeler. The impact of the accident was so huge that both of them got thrown up to 15 metres away, and the mangled scooter got stuck in the wheel of a stationary truck,” said Lalit, who runs a garment shop in Vasai.
“The accident took place in the vicinity of our house, so passersby informed us immediately. I rushed to the accident spot at 6.30 am. The clothes of both were soaked in blood. We rushed them to a nearby hospital and later they were referred to two different hospitals for advance treatment at Mira Road,” said Lalit. Both men’s right hands and right legs are fractured.
Instead of crossing the road from the far left, the scooter moves right, possibly to avoid a pothole. This puts the scooter in the blindspot for oncoming traffic from the right
“The doctor is saying that every second is critical, but has assured us that they will recover. Both of them are on the ventilator. The health of Prakash is a little better than that of Nitish, who has undergone a brain surgery at a different hospital in Mira Road,” Lalit added.
Cops scanned 40 CCTVs
Police sources told mid-day that the detection team of Waliv police station scanned more than 40 pieces of CCTV footage of the stretch between the accident spot and Nalasopara. “In the footage, we could see that soon after the accident, the damaged car was parked in a bushy area. It was a challenge for us as only the last four digits of its registration number, 2007, were visible,” said a reliable source.
The car driver doesn’t stop to help the two injured scooter riders. The police say he was drunk and fled the scene
“These four digits were helpful as we scanned the documents at car dealerships and zeroed in on the actual owner of the car. When we contacted him, we came to know that the damaged car was parked at a Toyota showroom at Sasunavghar in Vasai. Shrivastava was driving the car which belongs to his brother,” source said. “When Shrivastava arrived at his Nalasopara home after the accident, he told his brother that a motorcyclist had dashed into the car causing multiple dents,” the source added.
The Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar police have booked Shrivastava under Sections 184, 134, 134(1)(2) of Motor Vehicle Act and Sections 337, 338 and 279 of the Indian Penal Code. The cops arrested Shrivastava and produced him in a Vasai court, which granted him magisterial custody on Wednesday. During interrogation, the cops learnt that 26-year-old Shrivastava had gone to celebrate the birthday of his friend in Vasai where he consumed alcohol the whole night.
The car driven by Arjun Shrivastava
“The birthday party continued till the wee hours. Shrivastava took a power nap, and left for Nalasopara along with his two friends from the venue. He rammed into the riders at Fatherwadi in a drunken state on Monday morning,” said the source, who added, “We have already taken his blood samples to test the level of alcohol in his blood. We will scan the CCTV footage of the party venue to prove in the court that the driver was drunk.”
‘Authorities least concerned’
Urban Transport Expert Rishi Aggarwal told mid-day that the MMRDA, municipal corporations and PWD have overlooked the safety of people in Mumbai and adjacent districts. “The MMRDA, municipal corporations, PWD and other authorities concerned in Mumbai and adjacent districts are more interested in pouring concrete. They are not interested in the final outcome of their desperate initiatives. The safety and convenience of people are not their priority,” Aggarwal told mid-day.
Spot where the accident took place. Pics/Hanif Patel
“These authorities are least concerned about the road design, footpaths, road divider, junction, crossings, zebra crossing, etc. There is no point in discussing about disability access on the road as they can’t think of it,” he added. “There is no doubt that both—the rider and car driver—are at fault but if there is poor road design, it will encourage bad behaviour on the part of pedestrians, motorists and motorcyclists. Bad road designing gives a very negative signal about road safety. And here the authorities concerned are responsible,” said Aggarwal.
“The bad road design clearly conveys a message that the area lacks proper governance. This is purely about bad road design and lack of governance. And if the authorities concerned want, they can improve the road quality,” he added. “IAS officers and local elected representatives must be held responsible for this accident; the faults of car driver and motorcyclist are secondary,” he said.
Arjun Shrivastava, the car driver
‘Rider, driver, trucker, authorities—everyone at fault’
After watching the video multiple times from one particular angle, it seems that everyone—the scooter rider, car driver, authorities and the truck driver—is at fault.
>> Scooter: Both the rider and pillion were without helmets. They didn’t slow down and halt at the intersection for the car to pass by.
>> Car: The car was being driven at very high speed, leaving very little time for the driver to react to the bike riders’ stupidity, which resulted in an accident.
Also, after the accident, it could have helped if the driver helped the accident victims reach the hospital and surrendered to police, but he decided to abscond instead. Big error.
>> Authorities: The design of the intersection also seems to have contributed to this accident. The road approaching the intersection leads into a divider due to which the rider had to ride the scooter in a cross direction. It’s surprising how the authorities don’t have the basic technical knowledge of designing an intersection.
>> The truck also seems to have been parked incorrectly, which could have been a reason for blindspot for both the scooter and car. Unfortunately, the police authorities are least bothered about illegal parking by heavy vehicles for reasons best known to them.
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