Early Monday morning, Panjim’s Deputy Mayor Kabir Pinto Makhija woke up to a loud crash that knocked out the electricity to his house. When he looked out the window he saw a four-wheeler in his compound that had crashed through the wall, hit a car parked inside the compound and had then turned turtle. He lives on the D B Marg.
Last year on July 20, a young woman, allegedly under the influence of liquor, and driving on the wrong lane, on the same road, knocked down two young men on a motorcycle. She had lost control when driving on the wrong side of the road and sent two boys to hospital – one of who was seriously injured with a ruptured liver. Sandesh Khutkar and Kaiser Braganza had battled for their lives in hospital.
This is just one road and it has become a virtual freeway, especially at night when drivers, some fuelled by alcohol, press down on the accelerator.
“People have scant regard for traffic rules and especially at night zoom at unbelievable speeds, touching around 120-140 kmph on D B Road. The traffic police must enforce a strict speed limit on this road and clamp down on the offenders with an iron hand,” says Pinto Makhija, who woke up to the sound of the crash and the smell of petrol Monday morning.
DySP traffic cell Dharmesh Angle said, “Police don’t have powers to revoke licences. It is with the RTO. We speak to the RTO and inform them whenever any incidents take place.”
He said that as a routine daily the police check on speeding. “However, in the city regulation of traffic too has to be taken care of and is a priority given the large amount of traffic and the number of junctions. On the highways there is enforcement being done.”
Drunken driving has been problem in this State, which has a population of 15 lakh but, welcomes around 30 lakh tourists a year.
In another incident involving two cars, a Maharashtra registered Swift Dzire car rammed into a Wagon-R from the rear along the same road just recently.
The driver of the Maharashtra registered car was allegedly under the influence of alcohol and was reportedly negligent in driving which resulted in the accident.
Though there were no injuries, both the vehicles were damaged.
The MH registered car after the collision skidded and turned 180 degrees giving the impression it was proceeding in the wrong lane while the other car went over the footpath.
