6 hit & run cases daily in Capital, perpetrators get off scot-free
7 May 2015 12:16 AM GMT
Despite there being lakhs of CCTV cameras installed around the city, the national Capital witnesses as many as six hit-and-run cases everyday, in which the perpetrators never get identified. Of the average six per day, around two such incidents claim lives. In 2014, the perpetrators could not be tracked in as many as almost 2,250 hit-and-run cases, of which around 662 were fatal. So far in 2015, around 740 such incidents have already been reported and fatal cases have touched the 200-mark, revealed records of the Delhi Traffic Police. “For this crisis to be solved, every nook and corner of the city has to be brought under CCTV surveillance, which may take several years. Another alternative is that people should install video cameras as a compulsory accessory to their vehicles. In that case, some vehicle or the other – present near the accident spot when it occurs – can later help the police in identification of the wrongdoer. Such cameras are also not expensive and cost between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000,” said Muktesh Chander, Special CP (Traffic).
However, it is not only CCTV cameras which play a key role in such incidents. Many a time, there are people who witness the hit-and-run cases but refuse to join the probe only to escape alleged police harassment. This problem has to be cured and something like a Good Samaritan Law can help the cause, said another senior police official.
The menace which has been found to be associated in a majority of hit and run cases is drunken driving. More than 40,000 people have been prosecuted for the offence since January 2014. Also in the same 16-month period, as many as 60 severe accidents have taken place in which the drivers were found to be drunk. Of these 60, five were fatal accidents, which include the infamous cases of Nigambodh Ghat and Shantivan area that claimed several lives.
To curb drunken driving, the present laws have failed to serve as a deterrent. When the police started cancelling drivers license on repeated offence, errant drivers have now started claiming that they do not have one, so that they can get away with just paying the penalty for not possessing a license, instead of getting it confiscated, said a police source.
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