Damning findings in the Panjim police probe into the April 6 Dona Paula crash have exposed a se rious breach of regulatory safeguards — the brand new Mini Cooper that mowed down a two-wheel er, killing a 23-year-old woman, was neither reg istered nor under the su pervision of an authorised dealer representative. The violations go to the heart of how vehicles are legally permitted on pub lic roads — and how those safeguards were allegedly ignored. PSI Mahadev D Pednekar, who is leading the inves tigation, confirmed the lapses to O Heraldo. “Only one person was in the car at the time the accident took place. The car was not registered with the Depart ment of Transport. The in vestigation is ongoing and a road inspection is yet to be completed,” PSI Pednekar revealed.
The vehicle, sources said, was being operated on a trade certificate — a provision meant strictly for controlled and super vised use. Instead, it was out on a public road with no authorised representa tive present. Not registered. Not su pervised. And out on the road after the dealer’s of fice hours allegedly driven at speed. Police said Darius Dias (21), a resident of Chicol na-Bogmalo, was behind the wheel, driving from Dona Paula towards Goa University when he al legedly drove in a “rash and negligent manner without proper care and caution” and rammed into a two-wheeler car rying Diksha Parwadkar and D Arun Kumar near a starred hotel. Parwadkar, 23, succumbed to her injuries. Kumar, a Chennai native residing in Goa, survived with a fractured hip and underwent surgery. Hospital sources said he is likely to be discharged on April 15. The case has now widened beyond the driver to the circum stances under which the vehicle was allowed on the road at all.
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At the centre of the controversy is the question of how an unregistered luxury vehicle, operating under a restrict ed-use trade certificate, was handed over without super vision — a lapse that directly undermines the very safe guards meant to prevent such tragedies. RTI activist Sudin Tamankar has sought an FIR against the managing director/business head of the automobile company, alleging that the vehicle was improperly released and later involved in a fatal crash. Transport authorities have also initiated action. The Additional Director of Transport has issued a show cause notice to the dealer, asking why action should not be tak en for permitting a test drive without accompanying staff and for allowing an unregistered vehicle to be used on public roads. With the crash occurring after dealership hours and out side mandated controls, the investigation is now probing not just a case of rash driving — but a chain of accountabil ity failures that may have enabled it.
