Noida Expressway accident: Why the rich, spoilt brats matter more than ordinary lives
This chilling CCTV video (below) is a testimony of the absurd entitlements of those behind the wheels who infest the roads of Indian cities, and Delhi-NCR is no exception.
#WATCH CCTV Footage of collision between cars near Noida Expressway in sector 135, one dead. #UttarPradesh (July 8th) pic.twitter.com/j9zo66zVdy
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 9, 2017
One person was killed in the terrifying accident on Noida Expressway when the driver of a Swift Dzire, according to an NDTV report, tried to overtake a speeding Lamborghini, which abruptly swerved to its left hitting a Maruti Eeco car that was following the high-end vehicle. The Eeco car "rolled over into the forested area killing the driver instantly".
The victim, Arshad Ahmed, was in his late 20s.
Although it's difficult to figure who was to blame solely for the terrorising scene, there are various versions of the accident according to various sources.
According to The Times of India, Mohnish Khan, who was driving the Dzire, claimed that the Lamborghini was trying to overtake his vehicle, and hence, he overtook it after that. Khan was later arrested.
The NDTV report says the Swift Dzire "scraped the Lamborghini, which tried to prevent a collision by deviating to its left lane. This is when the Maruti Eeco got disastrously involved in the accident. It missed a motorcyclist, also travelling at a high speed in the left lane, by a few metres".
Reports have also surfaced with sources within the Noida Police saying that the Swift Dzire was attempting to race with the Lamborghini.
It's not clear whether the Lamborghini too tried to overtake the Dzire as a longer footage of the accident was not available.
The same ToI report quoted the police saying that they have not yet identified the Lamborghini driver.
"We are trying to verify whether the Lamborghini too made an error. Its driver has not been identified so far and we will see if the person is guilty," Vedpal Pundir, SHO, Expressway police station, was quoted by the newspaper.
The Lamborghini, meanwhile, was currently untraceable as the driver fled from the spot immediately after the accident.
While accident and deaths on roads due to rash driving is not new, what is frightening is the impunity enjoyed by some.
As more and more Indians are able to afford the best of luxury cars, there is also an increase in the number of reckless jerks behind the wheels.
And it's true these people don't value the life of the fellow drivers on the roads, let alone pedestrians.
There are numerous studies showing the way social status and wealth affect morality.
The value of life becomes much lesser than those gleaming Porsche, Audi, Bentley, Jaguar, BMW etc.
For that matter, even those driving "inferior" (car) models feel equally entitled to rash their way through in an India where owning a car itself gives you that sense of superiority over those "crawling" on the roads.
And why would it not be so when silence can be bought so easily with money to help the culprits evade punishment.
These rich and rash Indians strangely find a lot of support in fellow citizens who easily seethe at the death of a cow and are ready to take a human life for beef. But the lives of the commoners don't matter as long as it's a rich brat crushing the poor under his/her wheels.
Indians can readily forgive a Salman Khan for killing a poor man and injuring others sleeping on the pavement and yet make him a Rs1,000-crore box-office wonder. But if the same people catch a petty thief trying to steal food, it makes them so angry that they don't settle for anything but his life.
But why single out the unabashedly immoral film star who manages to get away with all kinds of murder (man-animal both). Khan and his likes still roam free because of a corrupt system which is equally complicit in these murders.
In India, it's only money and power that awaken or kill people's moral. A murder is just another death or accident unless there is no scope for deriving political mileage.
The number of instances when the drunk/rash drivers have killed people on the roads of Delhi (and other cities) and yet roaming free in themselves tell a chilling story of how India has lost its moral compass.
All those who otherwise wanted to see "black-money hoarders" turning paupers overnight with demonetisation, have no problems when the same rich, corrupt man devoid of all morality goes on a killing spree on the roads.
These murders due to rash and negligent driving will remain just unfortunate accidents.
And blaming and shaming the police and administration won't change anything. While it's true traffic cops and rules in India exist only in shiny official booklets, motorists are least scared to break the rules because they know a corrupt cop is waiting at the next signal to set them free in lieu of money.
These cops, on the other hand, too know they will always have a way to earn some extra bucks because our people have no qualms paying through their nose to get away with crimes.
A heartless India's stoop to immorality is not purely accidental!