Underage driving: Nothing’s more dangerous

There is nothing more tragic than young people dying and it has happened again in Pune where two young techies were killed when a high-end Porsche car, driven by an underage driver aged 17 years, hit their bike in the early hours of Sunday.

The families of the victims are inconsolable having lost their dear ones in the prime of their youth. Reports say the car was being driven at high speed by the youngster, son of a realtor, who has since been arrested.

The accused was allegedly in an inebriated state after consuming alcohol at two bars before the incident which has made the Pune cops detain the bar employees who served liquor to a minor.

What’s even more interesting is the action of the Juvenile Justice Board which because of the inherent limitations in punishing a minor, ordered that he be asked to write a 300 word essay on the subject of road accidents which has drawn caustic reactions on social media.

The board also directed that he be referred to an alcohol deaddiction center to make him quit the habit. He was reportedly granted bail within a span of 15 hours after the accident and the question is whether the board had other options considering the restrictions on punishing a minor?

The incident has drawn nationwide attention and shock. There are many who remember the Nirbhaya case in Delhi about a decade ago where one of the accused who raped and brutalized a young paramedic, had to be let off after serving his term at a juvenile home because he was a minor while the others were sentenced to death.

Such incidents go to show that when it comes to minors taking up tasks which only adults are entitled to do, the prime responsibility of deterring them lies on parents. Parents always have the option of forcing their kids to wait till the legal age of 18 before taking to driving.

They should convince children about the risks involved in underage driving which could land the parents in jail if an accident happens. Reports say that even insurance cover for vehicle damage in an accident may not be available if a minor is behind the wheel.

And yet, the thrill and excitement of ‘conquering’ the streets makes kids do it again and again unmindful of the huge risks which it could pose to their families and other riders on the road.

You can see it happening in Bengaluru too – not only in inner lanes but even on main roads where youngsters who definitely look only 15-16 years old, take to the streets whizzing past you in a huge cloud of smoke and dust giving you a distasteful look for being so ‘slow’.

Get into an argument with them and you are sure to invite a string of abuses before they vanish into some nearby corner with even rear number plates sometimes strangely missing on such vehicles. What’s more worrisome is that most of them do not care to wear helmets which further endangers their lives in case something goes horribly wrong.

The onus also lies on traffic cops and unless they take a strict stance and go after such youngsters breaking the rules with impunity, they could be doing a big disservice to themselves and society at large.

This is of course no easy task considering that these kids-whether they are in a car or on a twowheeler - tend to speed away in a jiffy to avoid being caught once they spot a cop at the corner.

But it is only when these youngsters are caught - by cops or with the help of hi-tech cameras installed everywhere and given a stern warning about the repercussions they may face that we can hope to avoid or at least minimize mishaps like the horrendous one in Pune.